Editing 2002 Zamboanga City bombings

{{Short description|Attacks in the Philippines}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title=2002 Zamboanga City bombings
|image=
|caption=
|location=Four separate locations in [[Zamboanga City]]
|target=Two department stores, Fort Pillar shrine and a karaoke bar/restaurant opposite a military base.
|date= First bombing: {{Start date and age|2002|10|02}}<br>Second bombing: {{Start date|2002|10|17}}<br>Third bombing: {{Start date|2002|10|21}}
|time=
|timezone=
|type=
|fatalities=at least 11
|injuries=at least 180
|perps=unknown ([[Moro Islamic Liberation Front|MILF]], [[Abu Sayyaf]], and [[Jemaah Islamiyah]] suspected)
|motive=
}}
{{Campaignbox South Philippines Insurgency}}

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">{{cite news
 | title      = Abu Sayyaf kidnappings, bombings and other attacks
 | url        = http://www.gmanews.tv/story/154797/abu-sayyaf-kidnappings-bombings-and-other-attacks
 | work       = GMA News
 | date       = August 23, 2007
 | access-date = March 22, 2010}}</ref> in Zamboanga City killed an American [[Special Forces (United States Army)|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">{{cite news
 | title       = ABUS, AL-QAEDA TAGGED IN WEDNESDAY NIGHT ZAMBOANGA BOMBING
 | url       = http://www.newsflash.org/2002/09/hl/hl016645.htm
 | work       = newsflash
 | date       = October 4, 2002
 | access-date       = March 22, 2010
 | archive-date       = November 13, 2002
 | archive-url       = https://web.archive.org/web/20021113152915/http://www.newsflash.org/2002/09/hl/hl016645.htm
 | url-status       = dead
 }}</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 [[Trinitrotoluene|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">{{cite news
 | title      = Church attacked in Philippines city
 | url        = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2344211.stm
 | work       = BBC News
 | date       = October 20, 2002
 | access-date = March 23, 2010}}</ref><ref name = "independent2002" /> Two department stores were devastated in the attack.<ref name ="independent2002" /> The first blast occurred at 11:30&nbsp;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">{{cite news
 | title      = Six killed in Philippines bomb blasts
 | url        = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/six-killed-in-philippines-bomb-blasts-614304.html
 | work       = The Independent
 | date       = October 17, 2002
 | access-date = March 23, 2010}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</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">{{cite news
 | title      = 5 ZAMBOANGA BOMBING SUSPECTS ARRESTED
 | url        = http://www.newsflash.org/2002/10/hl/hl016775.htm
 | work       = newsflash
 | date       = October 23, 2002
 | access-date = March 23, 2010}}</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">
{{cite news
 | title       = Abu bomb expert captured
 | url       = http://www.philstar.com/ArticlePrinterFriendly.aspx?articleId=184011
 | work       = philstar.com
 | date       = November 15, 2002
 | access-date       = March 23, 2010
 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
</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==
<references/>

{{Moro conflict}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zamboanga City bombings, 2002}}
[[Category:2002 building bombings]]
[[Category:2002 murders in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002]]
[[Category:21st century in Zamboanga City]]
[[Category:Moro conflict]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 2002]]
[[Category:21st-century mass murder in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in the Philippines in 2002]]
[[Category:Church bombings in the Philippines]]
[[Category:October 2002 crimes in Asia]]
[[Category:October 2002 in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Shopping mall bombings in Asia]]
[[Category:Church bombings by Islamists]]
[[Category:Abu Sayyaf attacks]]
[[Category:Motorcycle bombings in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Restaurant bombings in Asia]]
[[Category:Marketplace attacks in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Crime in Mindanao]]
[[Category:Attacks on bars in Asia]]
[[Category:Attacks on music venues]]