2 wounded in Basilan blasts

MANILA, Philippines — A manhunt for two men tagged in explosions that hit Isabela, Basilan on Monday is underway.

Lt. Col. Julpikar Sitin, Isabela police chief, said improvised explosive devices (IEDs) went off outside a fastfood restaurant in Barangay Isabela Proper and at the terminal of D’Biel bus company in Barangay La Piedad.

Two persons were wounded while a mini truck, a concrete post as well as the ceiling of the terminal and a convenience store were damaged when the bomb exploded at the bus terminal.

A security guard said he found an unattended package from a bus that came from Lamitan City. The package exploded shortly after he placed it near a mini truck.

The bus conductor told police the package was sent by an unidentified person, who claimed that somebody would pick it upon arrival at the terminal.

Prior to the explosion in Barangay Isabela, Sitin said footage of closed-circuit television cameras at the scene caught a man wearing a yellow shirt and cap leaving a cell phone in the parking area of the fastfood chain. There was no reported casualty.

Officials of the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade and the Basilan police said the IED could have been detonated from a distance using a mobile phone.

“We strongly condemn the inhuman attack, which resulted in injury to two innocent civilians who were just doing their decent job to earn a living,” Brig. Gen. Franco Simborio, Zamboanga peninsula police director, said.