Bomb scare panics Zambo City shoppers

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A false bomb alarm sent hundreds of panicked customers fleeing department stores and shops here last Saturday, days after twin explosions wounded 30 people.

Police said a room attendant in a downtown inn saw an abandoned bag and told authorities he believed there was a bomb in it, said SPO1 William Jones, a member of the city’s bomb squad.

Word spread quickly through the inn and nearby shops, causing panic and nearly emptying nearby shops and restaurants.

The scare intensified when military and police bomb squads arrived with blaring sirens and bomb-sniffing dogs, witnesses said.

The bomb squad later found that the bag contained a motorcycle seat, which a guest reclaimed.

The police have arrested three suspected militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf for allegedly planting a bomb that blew up a van last Wednesday.

A second blast demolished an inn atop a nearby restaurant, although no suspects have been identified in that attack.

Since the bombings, the military and police have thrown a tight security net around the city, home to the Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom).

Officials said last Wednesday’s bombings may have been intended to divert a major military offensive against Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janjalani in Maguindanao.

Zamboanga City authorities have formed Task Force Curacha, named after the deep—sea crab popular here, to consolidate all the efforts of the different security agencies, with the business sector’s help enlisted, in fighting terrorism.

"We have to make our place unfriendly to terrorists and even plain criminals," said Senior Superintendent Henry Losañez, city police chief.

The police and the military are themselves fusing their intelligence gathering to track down terrorists reportedly out on suicide missions. — Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe and AP