Manila - Six people were killed and more than 50 injured
Tuesday in two bombings in the southern Philippines, police and
military officials said.
A homemade bomb exploded near the Mount Carmel Catholic Church in
Jolo town on Jolo Island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, killing
six people and injuring 40 others, Police Superintendent Jose Bayani
Gucela said.
'The explosion occurred right after the Mass,' he said Gucela.
'The bomb was placed inside a motorcycle which was parked about 100
metres from the church.'
It was the second bombing near a church in three days in the
strife-torn southern region of Mindanao. On Sunday, a bomb exploded
outside a church in Cotabato City, also killing six people.
Gucela said bomb experts recovered two more unexploded bombs in
the vicinity of Mount Carmel Church.
Two hours later, a second blast occurred in Iligan City, 810
kilometres south of Manila, wounding 13 people, army Lieutenant
Colonel Arnulfo Burgos said.
Burgos said no one had died in the Iligan City bombing, contrary
to an initial report that said one person was killed. But he noted
that several of the injured victims were in critical condition.
He said among those hurt were three soldiers, including an army
captain, who were riding a patrol jeep as the bomb exploded along a
busy street leading to the Iligan City port.
'Initial investigation disclosed that the bomb was made from an
81-millimitre mortar ammunition similar to the one used in Cotabato
bombing on Sunday,' he said.
Police and military investigators were looking into the possible
involvement of Jemaah Islamiyah operatives in the bombing, defence
sources said.
Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, spokesman for the
government's anti-terrorism council, advised the public to remain
calm but vigilant amid the series of bomb attacks.
'Let's not feed the frenzy,' he told a local television station.
'If we allow ourselves to be lured into this chaos, into fear, it's
the whole country that's affected.'
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