Sulu suicide bomber a woman, PNP confirms

MANILA, Philippines — A foreign-looking person who detonated a bomb near a military checkpoint in Indanan, Sulu last week was a woman, the Philippine National Police (PNP) confirmed yesterday.

PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said 20 human tissue samples recovered at the scene in Barangay Kajatian were tested at the police crime laboratory.

“It was a female DNA but the identity cannot be determined without reference standards,” Banac said.

The military had earlier said a foreign-looking woman set off a bomb attached to her body.

PNP deputy spokesperson Lt. Col. Kimberly Molitas said they would coordinate with their foreign counterparts for leads on the identity of the suicide bomber.

“Yung technology for the identification ng kanyang nationality ay wala pa tayo,” Molitas said.

The attack occurred more than two months after an Army headquarters, also in the town, was targeted by suicide bombers.

One of the bombers was identified as 19-year-old Filipino Norman Lasuca. The identity of the other bomber has yet to be ascertained.

An Army checkpoint in Lamitan, Basilan was also attacked by a suicide bomber, believed to be a Moroccan, in July last year.

An Indonesian couple was confirmed to have blown themselves up in front of the Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo early this year. Twenty people, including five soldiers, were killed in the incident.

Bomb materials

Meanwhile, at least 700 kilos of ammonium nitrate and an 81mm mortar fuse were recovered in Patikul, also in Sulu, over the weekend.

Lt. Col. Gerard Monfort, Joint Task Force-Sulu spokesman, said the bomb materials were seized in a raid on an abandoned house in Barangay Latih.

“In many occasions, we have neutralized the Abu Sayyaf’s scheme in deliberately prepositioning explosives. But we never expected these huge explosive components during the search,” Brig. Gen. Leopoldo Imbang Jr., First Brigade Combat Team commander, said.

Authorities said ammonium nitrate when mixed with other substances would create a powerful bomb.

They said the same chemical was used in the bombing of the Jolo Cathedral and a military detachment in Indanan in July. – With Jaime Laude