GenSan grenade explosion: 22 hurt

The military reported yesterday that 22 people were wounded after unidentified men hurled a grenade at a plaza in General Santos City on New Year’s eve.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Army spokesman, said the wounded victims were at the crowded Oval Plaza in Gen. Santos City when the explosion occurred at around 9:10 p.m. last Wednesday.

The victims, who were not immediately identified, were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Maj. Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman for the Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command, said investigators are still trying to determine the identities of the suspects.

“Teams from Task Force GenSan with police and bomb disposal units were immediately deployed to respond to the situation and secure the area and conduct investigations,” he said.

A suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel who was allegedly planning to conduct bombings in Sultan Kudarat was killed last Tuesday when the improvised explosive device he was carrying prematurely exploded near a police and military checkpoint in Esperanza town.

The military believes the Sultan Kudarat bomb plot could be part of efforts of renegade MILF factions to divert military operations against fugitive rebel commanders and their followers in the area.

Cabangbang said they are looking into the involvement of the MILF in the Gen. Santos bombing, because of the rebel group’s earlier statement that it would retaliate for the government’s offensives allegedly conducted during the holy month of Ramadan.

In a related development, five teenagers were wounded when an improvised bomb exploded in a village in Patikul, Sulu, before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Presidential Assistant for Sulu Amilbahar Amilasan confirmed the bombing that occurred about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday at Sitio Palar, Barangay Umangay in Patikul.

Amilasan identified the victims as Aldina Ari, 14; Habibi Harbi, 12, Sabre Habibi, 14; Nurfaida Basari, 12; and Janjan Bara, 17, who were treated at the Sulu Provincial Hospital.

Police did not discount the involvement of the Abu Sayyaf group in the bombing.

In Zamboanga City, police found yesterday an improvised bomb abandoned near a local bus terminal.

Supt. Jose Bayani Gucela, chief of the police regional Explosive Ordnance and Disposal Unit (EOD), said the improvised bomb was left at the fence of a warehouse near the bus terminal on Sampaguita Road, Barangay Guiwan.

Gucela said a resident found the bomb and reported it to the police at about 9 a.m.

“It appeared the bomb was abandoned in an unintended area because the visibility of the police was tight at the terminal. The vigilance of the civilian foiled that bombing attempt,” Gucela said.

He said the improvised bomb was made of 81mm mortar ammunition with two 9-volt and two 1.5-volts batteries, a digital alarm clock, and was wrapped with a rubber tire interior.

“The bomb appeared to bear the signature of bombs used by the rogue rebels but we can not ascertain yet as to which group could be behind the attempt to stage the bombing,” Gucela said. — With Roel Pareño