Manila: Sixteen people were killed, including seven civilians, three Marines, five members of the Al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, and one policeman, in three bomb attacks, one sniper attack, and clashes that occurred simultaneously on Basilan island in the southern Philippines, security forces said.
Four members of the Abu Sayyaf Group were killed, two were wounded, and one was captured in a clash with government forces when a bomb accidentally exploded near a grandstand on Basilan Island early Tuesday morning. The arrested Abu Sayyaf member was hospitalized and interrogated, Lt. Gen. Delfin Dolorfino, head of Western Command, said in a radio interview, following an update late Tuesday.
Some 50 militants with cropped hair and police uniforms began the attack which was initially meant to kidnap some prominent people and to hold several others as haotages, said Dolorfino.
One civilian and a man in police uniform were instantly killed when a van that was parked in front of the Basilan National High School in Isabela City exploded at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Philippine Marines commandant Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban also said in a radio interview.
“The man in uniform turned out to be a member of the Abu Sayyaf who was killed in the car-bomb attack,” said Sabban.
Then three Marines were killed by snipers when a team rushed to the blast site. “The snipers, on top of buildings and homes, waited to attack the security forces,” said Sabban, adding, "Some of the attackers were also on the ground. Initially, they shot at civilians as they took cover and ran towards a nearby forested mountain.”
At the same time, an explosion occurred in front of the Basilan Cathedral in Basilan at 11 o’clock in the morning. It destroyed parts of the church. No one was initially killed or injured during the blast, said.Basilan provincial police director Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza.
Investigators said the bomb was attached to a motorcycle that was parked in front of the church, said Mendoza.
Another bomb was detonated near the residence of Judge Leo Jay Principe of Basilan’s regional trial court. In 2009, he issued the arrest warrants of 130 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf Group who were suspected for the killing of 14 Marines, 10 of whom were beheaded in 2007, said Mendoza.
Six civilians and one policeman were killed in a clash that ensued when security forces rushed near the church and the house of Judge Pincipe and chased away some the Abu Sayyaf members who tried to escape in a nearby village at past noon of Tuesday, said Mendoza.
Residents in the said village were brought to a safe place as government forces and Abu Sayyaf fighters continued fighting each other for four hours, said Mendoza, adding the final number of fatalities could be accounted for on Wednesday.
The identities of the slain civilians, Marines, policemen, and Abu Sayyaf members were not revealed.
The Abu Sayyaf, blamed for worst terrorist attacks in the south and in Manila (in 2004), has been using home-made car bomb and landmine types of attacks, intelligence reports said.
In March, three Filipino soldiers were wounded in an Abu Sayyaf landmine attack on Basilan.
In February, a Filipino soldier was killed and 12 civilians were wounded in two roadside bomb attacks that occurred simultaneously on Basilan, and were blamed on the Abu Sayyaf.. Last September, an improvised explosive device killed a Filipino Marine and two US soldiers who were on a training mission on Jolo island, near Basilan. It was also blamed to the Abu Sayyaf.
After the loss of their leaders in clashes with security forces, Abu Sayyaf members and their respective sub-leaders formed factions and they took over several territories on Basilan and Jolo islands.
