Bomb blast in Philippine capital kills two
By Yahoo! Southeast Asia Editors – January 25th, 2011
By Jason Gutierrez, AFP
MANILA, January 25, 2011 (AFP) – At least two people were killed and 18 injured when a bomb exploded on a crowded bus in the Philippine capital’s financial district on Tuesday, authorities said.
The attack occurred two months after the US and several other Western governments warned a terrorist attack in Manila was imminent.
Metropolitan Manila police chief Nicanor Bartolome said the bomb appeared to have been placed in the middle of the bus.
“The explosive must have been placed underneath the passenger seat,” Director Nicanor Bartolome, head of the Metropolitan Manila district police office, said on ANC television.
“Initially, we have two confirmed deaths and 15 others are injured and are being attended to in hospitals.”
The explosion occurred on Tuesday afternoon as the bus travelled along one of Manila’s busiest roads, on the edge of the Makati financial district.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, a former mayor of Makati, arrived quickly at the scene of the explosion and said it appeared to be a powerful blast.
“The explosion was powerful. I believe it is a bomb. We have two dead now,” Binay told reporters.
At 3:50 p.m., Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda released a statement on the bus explosion.
“The area has been secured and investigators are at the scene. We are being updated should there be any change to these preliminary reports. Casualties have been brought to two nearby hospitals.”
In November, the US, Australian, British, Canadian, French and New Zealand governments updated their travel advisories to the Philippines to warn that terrorist attacks were likely to occur soon.
Some of the warnings specificially mentioned that an attack would occur in Manila.
“Terrorist attacks could be indiscriminate and could occur not only in the southern islands but also in other areas, to include Manila,” the US advisory said.
“Targeted sites may be public gathering places that are frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers, including American citizens.
“Such sites could include, but are not limited to, airports, shopping malls, conference centers and other public venues.”
Philippine President Benigno Aquino strongly criticised the advisories, saying they were not based on firm intelligence, prompting some of the governments to downgrade the threat assessment.
However, the US maintained its warning, which could be viewed on its Manila’s embassy’s website on Tuesday.
The Philippines has a range of security threats, most prominently the Abu Sayyaf Muslim militant group that operates mainly in the south of the country, and communist rebels who have been waging a rebellion for 42 years.
The Abu Sayyaf bombed a passenger ferry on Manila Bay in 2004 that killed over 100 people in the country’s worst terrorist attack, according to authorities.
The Abu Sayyaf was also blamed for placing a bomb attack on a passenger bus near Makati in 2005 that left three people dead.
Armed gangs and other extortionists are also known to attack buses in the southern Philippines frequently.
Nine passengers were killed in one such attack in October last year that was blamed on former Muslim separatist rebels seeking to extort money from a local bus company.
Photos by Rey Cedilla Jr., Jerome Ascano and Jacqueline Timola of NPPA Images
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Bomb blast in Philippine capital kills two
Originally Posted by taga_ipil
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