Extortion gang member tagged in bus bombing

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines – Police yesterday tagged a notorious member of the Al-Khobar extortion syndicate in Wednesday’s bombing of a bus in Carmen, North Cotabato that left two passengers dead and 18 others injured.

Senior Superintendent Cornelio Salinas, North Cotabato police director, said witnesses helped them identify the suspected bomber from pictures of wanted persons in Central Mindanao.

Salinas, however, declined to identify the Al-Khobar member while efforts are underway to identify his accomplices.

“But certainly we will file charges against this wanted bomber anytime soon,” Salinas said.

Investigators said the suspect, along with at least two cohorts, planted an improvised explosive in the undercarriage luggage compartment of a Rural Transit Bus unit and set it off while the bus was approaching the public terminal in the town proper of Carmen.

“The explosive was made to look like an ordinary baggage,” said Lt. Col. Benjamin Hao, commanding officer of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion that has jurisdiction over Carmen and surrounding towns.

Hao said they have received information that the Al-Khobar extortion gang was responsible for the bombing.

The Rural Transit Bus firm has been receiving letters demanding “protection money” from the Al-Khobar, composed of rogue Moro rebels and extremists said to have links with al-Qaeda and its Asian cell, the Jemaah Islamiyah.

North Cotabato Gov. Lala Taliño-Mendoza and Carmen officials assured the families of the two fatalities – Rona Mae Causing, 18, and Gladzin Himpiso, 10 – of financial assistance.