2002 Zamboanga City bombings

The 2002 Zamboanga bombings were a series of attacks perpetrated on the October 2, 17 and 21, 2002, around the southern Philippine port of Zamboanga City, Mindanao island.<ref name = "newsflash2002" /> Eleven people died and over 180 others were wounded in the four bomb attacks allegedly perpetrated by Islamic extremists with connections to the Abu Sayyaf insurgent group.<ref name = "philstar2002" /><ref name = "BBC20022" />

Attacks

October 2

A bomb blast in front of a Malagutay district<ref name = "newsflash2002" /> karaoke bar near a military arms depot<ref name = "gmaabusayyaf">Template:Cite news</ref> in Zamboanga City killed an American Green Beret commando and three Filipino civilians.<ref name = "newsflash2002" /><ref name = "philstar2002" /> At least 25 other people, one of them another American trooper, were wounded in the blast.<ref name = "newsflashabus">Template:Cite news</ref> Investigators were looking at the possibility of a suicide attack as the rider of a motorcycle where the explosives were rigged was among the fatalities.<ref name = "newsflashabus" /> A military intelligence report said the attack was staged by a "four-man urban terrorist group" of Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to al-Qaeda. Philippine National Police chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. stated the motorcycle driver had been identified as a member of Abu Sayyaf from a sketch based on witnesses' accounts and the body.<ref name = "newsflashabus" /> According to police, the bomb that exploded in Malagutay weighed around a kilo and contained "brownish" explosive that may have been a mixture of gunpowder and TNT.<ref name ="newsflash2002" />

October 20

Two TNT bombs exploded around noon inside a shopping centre in the commercial district of Zamboanga City, when the mall was most busy, killing at least seven and wounding about 150 people.<ref name = "BBC20022">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name = "independent2002" /> Two department stores were devastated in the attack.<ref name ="independent2002" /> The first blast occurred at 11:30 a.m. at the Shop-o-Rama department store and was followed a half hour later by a second explosion at the adjacent Shoppers Central store.<ref name ="independent2002" /> Police Chief Mario Yanga said the bombs were deposited at counters where shoppers leave packages as they enter.<ref name = "independent2002">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> The explosions occurred as ceremonies were being held in the city to hand over command of the military's Southern Command from Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina to Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya.<ref name ="newsflash2002">Template:Cite news</ref> <ref name ="independent2002" /> Following the blasts, Zamboanga police bomb squads blew up five suspicious packages, however further examination found they contained no explosives.<ref name ="independent2002" />

October 21

A Philippine Marine guarding the church was killed and 18 others wounded after a bomb, placed in bag left at a candle store, exploded at Fort Pilar,<ref name ="BBC20022" /> a Catholic shrine in Zamboanga City.<ref name ="newsflash2002" /> <ref name ="philstar2002"> Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link </ref>

Perpetrators

Hours before the October 21 blast, police in Manila captured a man they said was a senior member of the Muslim extremist group, Abu Sayyaf, suspected of staging the earlier blasts. Police arrested five more suspects on the 22nd. On November 15, Abdulmukim Edris, who had a million peso bounty on his head,<ref name ="philstar2002" /> was arrested in Pasay after the issuing of 11 warrants of arrest by the regional trial court in Isabela, Basilan for a string of pending criminal cases, including murder and kidnapping for ransom. Edris was tagged as the mastermind in the October 17 bombings.<ref name ="philstar2002" />

See also

• Terrorism in the Philippines

References

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