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Series of EmergencyNet News "Real Time" Reports Concerning Multiple Bomb Attacks in Manila, Philippines - 30 Dec 2000
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Excerpted from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Saturday, December 30, 2000-Vol. 6, No. 366-08:30CST
Bomb Blasts Kill 13 In Manila
At least 13 people were reported killed and almost 100 others were wounded by a series of bombs that exploded in the Philippine capital Manila on Saturday. The bombs exploded on a suburban train, a bus, a park bench near the U.S. Embassy, a warehouse at the main airport and outside a luxury hotel.
The first four almost simultaneous explosions were at around noon (04:00GMT). A fifth bomb, about two hours later(14:00 local - 06:00GMT), killed a policeman who was trying to defuse a device in a gift-wrapped package. A government spokesman said authorities were working on the possibility that the bombs had been placed by the Abu Sayyaf Muslim separatist group which operates mostly in the south of the country. A leader of the group was arrested in Manila on Thursday with bomb making materials.
Police and television reports said 13 people had been killed and 95 injured. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blasts. Various political and media pundits blamed the bombs on -- alternatively -- Communist rebels from the New Peoples Army (NPA), or government operatives, working in an effort to deflect public attention from the on-going impeachment of President Joseph Estrada.
The most devastating explosion was in the front coach of a crowded elevated train as it was pulling into a station. At least 11 people were killed and about 60 wounded. Another bomb went off on a park bench near the U.S. Embassy, injuring nine people.
A third bomb exploded on a bus as it neared a terminal, killing one person. The blast was said to be so powerful it stood the bus up on end. Several cars in the vicinity were badly damaged. A fourth explosion was reported in a warehouse at Manila's international airport, some 700 yards from the passenger terminal. Six people were injured.
A fifth bomb was found in a gift-wrapped package near the Dusit Hotel in the Makati financial district. It was spotted by a security guard and was taken to an abandoned gas station to be defused, where it later exploded. A policeman was killed and another injured. Rumors of more explosions swept the city in the afternoon. Police emptied a shopping mall in Makati after they discovered an abandoned package in the area but later found it contained only mangoes, mushrooms and underwear.
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01:30CST - 30 Dec 2000
At Least Ten Killed, More than 50 Wounded in Series of Terrorist Bombings in Philippine Capital
Manila, Philippines (EmergencyNet News) -- Emergency services and medical sources are now saying that at least ten people have been killed and at least fifty (50) others have been wounded in a series of bombs that have exploded in Manila today (Saturday).
A fifth explosion reportedly happened about two hours after the original four simultaneous blasts. It occurred near the luxury Dusit Hotel in the Makati financial district of Manila. Police sources say that the latest detonation took the life of one policeman who was attempting to disarm it when it went off.
Police investigators say that a total of five blasts have psychologically devastated the Philippine capital and they are calling for calm and cooperation from the public. EmergencyNet News continues to monitor events in the Philippines closely and will provide additional details if/when they become available...
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23:45CST - 29 Dec 2000
Series of Bombs Explodes Throughout Manila, Philippines; Multiple Fatalities Reported
Manila, Philippines (EmergencyNet News) -- What appears to be a series of at least four bombs have exploded in the Philippine capital at around noon (local) on Saturday, killing at least five people and wounding scores of others. According to early and as yet fragmentary reports, most of the bombs went off in or near sources of public transportation.
Witnesses say that one of the most deadly blasts involved a train car that was traveling in a Manila suburb. At least four people were killed and more than 30 others were wounded in that blast that rocked a train car. A second explosion went off at a bus terminal killing at least one person and wounding others. A third bomb went off at Manila International Airport, also wounding several people. And, a fourth explosion went of near the U.S. Embassy in Manila, wounding at least five others. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) officials said that the death toll may rise.
Police say that the series of bombs all went off at approximately the same time, in what appears to be a coordinated attack. Few official details are currently available as Manila police and other government agencies scramble to investigate all of the incidents. Manila Police Chief Superintendent Edgardo Aglipay has reportedly placed police on a 24-hour state of alert and sent reinforcements to patrol public areas in Manila.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, but speculation is presently centering on Islamic terrorists, particularly Abu Sayyaf militants. (Also...see related "Top Story" below)
29 Dec 2000
PHILIPPINES:
Abu Sayyaf Leader Arrested While On Bombing Mission To Manila; Part of Larger Christmas Bombing Campaign?
Police said on Friday they foiled a planned bombing spree in Manila by the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group with the capture of a rebel commander and his aide. Hector Janjalani, whose brother was the founder of the Abu Sayyaf, was arrested on Thursday by elite government operatives at a shopping mall in Manila along with another rebel identified as Alsheed Alling Albani.
Police intelligence head Chief Superintendent Romulo Sales said: "Their arrest preempted a hideous terror plot to be carried out in the metropolis at the height of the Christmas season."
Janjalani had been involved in various violent attacks in the southern Philippines in recent years including the attack of the mainly-Christian town of Ipil in 1995 in which more than 50 people died. Military sources said he was reportedly elected as temporary chief of the Abu Sayyaf on 20 December. His brother, Khadaffy, is also a senior leader of the Abu Sayyaf, which made headlines earlier this year after taking dozens of foreigners hostage and reportedly ransoming them off for millions of dollars.
Recovered from the arrested pair were hand grenades and rifles and sketches of possible bombing targets in Manila, as well as a plastic bag containing several grams of the banned drug methamphetamine.
Emergency Response & Research Institute (ERRI) analysts hypothesize that attacks in Manila may have been scheduled to coincide with other Christmas terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Kashmir, and Indonesia. It is not currently known if the various attacks were somehow "coordinated" by any sort of controlling authority, although at least one ERRI analyst is looking to Afghanistan for additional answers.
© EmergencyNet News Service, 2000. All rights reserved. Redistribution or republication without the expressed permission of ERRI/EmergencyNet News is prohibited by law.
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