Lamitan blast not suicide bombing, say police

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  - - Police authorities in Basilan said the improvised bomb that was set to be planted in a key area of the province was prematurely exploded after the bomb carrier failed to slip the device due to the presence of the police and military forces.

This as police official belied reports that the unidentified carrier could have been  a suicide bomber when the bomb he was transporting exploded and almost severed his torso and damaged the motorcycle  he was riding at Barangay Balagtasan, a village of Lamitan City that bordered Isabela City.

“The suspect-victim was not a suicide bomber because the bomb he was trying to transport was detonated prematurely,” said Lamitan City police office commander Chief Inspector Almer Ismael.

He added that based on their assessment the terrorist group in the province has not used the tactic of suicide bombing.

The police official believed that the suspect failed to slip to the highway leading to Isabela City due to the presence of  police and military checkpoints.

Ismael disclosed that prior to the explosion about 3:40 p.m. Tuesday the suspect was seen to have been at a waiting shed along a diversionary road connecting the cities of Isabela and Lamitan talking on the cellular phone.

The police official declined to immediately say if the suspected bomber was a member of the Abu Sayyaf citing security sensitivity but said “he could be one of the persons we are running after.”

Ismael also believed that the bomb could be intended either for Isabela City which will be celebrating its fiesta on Sunday since the festival of Lamitan had just recently culminated.

The police official said security remained tight in the populated areas of the province following the failed bombing attack.

Meanwhile, the police have taken under their custody a possible suspect in the grenade attack on a shuttle bus that injured seven workers of the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA)  Monday in this city.

The police said the suspect, whose name was withheld as investigation is going, was also injured from the blast.

Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, spokesman of Police Regional Office 9 (PRO), said that the suspect, who was not listed as among those injured PFDA workers, went to the hospital for treatment of shrapnel wound on his neck but hurriedly left as the rest of the injured victims were rushed to the same hospital for treatment.

The police said the picture and description of the suspect as provided by the hospital and one of the injured victims corroborated.

Huesca said further investigation disclosed that prior to the incident the suspect had reportedly engaged in a verbal tussle with the management of PFDA and the security personnel over  a business transaction he wanted to pursue inside fishing port.

Police authorities are hunting down the suspect to shed light on the incident.