RP hunts Malaysian-linked terror group after series of bombings
RP hunts Malaysian-linked terror group after series of bombings
Agence France-Presse, General Santos, Philippines
Philippine security forces said on Tuesday they were on the trail of Malaysian-linked Filipino Muslim militants blamed for a series of deadly bombings in the south.
President Gloria Arroyo has ordered a crackdown on "terror groups" operating in the country after three blasts in the southern city of General Santos left 14 dead and almost 60 wounded on Sunday.
The death toll rose to 15 on Tuesday after one of the injured, a man who suffered shrapnel wounds, died in hospital, police said.
Two Muslim militants caught on Monday have been officially charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms and explosives for their alleged role in the bombings, police said.
As 100 Special Action Force policemen backed by army soldiers were deployed to guard this bustling city on Tuesday, its mostly Christian population reeled from fresh bomb threats circulated through cellular text messages.
National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina said police were trying to establish whether the suspects, identified as Bobby Sabilo and Mulikin Adam Ambi, were involved in regional "terrorist" groups.
But he said they were believed to be former Muslim separatist rebels trained in bomb-making in Malaysia, and were part of a 10- man cell operating here based on initial police reports.
"Initially the findings are that they are lost command rebels (renegades) and that, number two, they trained in Malaysia for bomb-making," Espina told AFP.
"We are expecting more arrests in the coming days. Reportedly there are 10 of them."
The Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels, which have links to suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, have claimed responsibility for the bombings, saying they were in retaliation for a joint U.S.-Philippine operation against them.
Espina said the Abu Sayyaf claim could be a ploy by other groups to mislead investigators.
The two arrested suspects on Tuesday denied involvement in the attacks but admitted being close relatives of alleged mastermind Benjie Puntuan, a local Muslim militant and allegedly an explosives expert for the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
The MNLF was the country's largest Muslim insurgent group until 1986, when its leader Nur Misuari signed a peace deal with Manila. Misuari is now in jail after leading a failed revolt that left more than 100 dead in the southern island of Jolo late last year.
Puntuan and the others at large were believed still in the city and police teams have been checking on their possible locations, Baluyot said, adding that sketches of the suspects have been distributed to the public.
Police said there were bomb threats on Tuesday targeting the city hall, a telecommunications office, an office building and a highway in General Santos, although ordnance experts failed to find any explosives.
Arroyo has ordered additional deployment of troops in General Santos on the main southern island of Mindanao, imposition of nightly curfews and intensified intelligence work to catch the suspects.
Her national security adviser, Roilo Golez, had said Arroyo declared a "state of emergency" but the presidential palace later clarified that it was an "emergency situation" and an "intensified crackdown on terror groups" had been launched.
It was not immediately clear whether the two suspects under arrest were linked with Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian alleged bomb expert who was sentenced to 12 years in jail last week in General Santos for possession of explosives.