Janjalani, Sayyaf tagged in twin blasts

The military is eyeing the Abu Sayyaf’s main faction led by Khadaffy Janjalani in the bomb attacks in Zamboanga City yesterday that left at least six people dead and scores wounded.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Servando said the bombs used in the attack in Zamboanga were the same type used in the bombing in the city on Oct. 2 that killed a US serviceman and three Filipinos.

"We are looking at the group of Khadaffy Janjalani as primarily responsible for the incident. The bombs recovered were similar to the ones used in the Malagutay (Zamboanga) explosion," he said, adding that in both instances TNT was used.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Benjamin Defensor condemned "in the strongest terms… this latest act of terror."

"The AFP will not relent in its operations in Sulu or elsewhere to track down those responsible for this barbaric act," Defensor said.

Servando said the military was not ruling out other suspects in the bombings of two shopping centers in Zamboanga City that killed at least five and wounded 144 others.

"All threat groups are suspects in this incident, including the Jemaah Islamiyah," Servando said, referring to the Indonesia-based group believed to be the al-Qaeda terror network’s arm in Southeast Asia.

"The bomb is a highly explosive TNT, just at the same level as a C4-type bomb," he said. "Right now they are still checking other areas for the presence of other bombs."

Servando noted local extremist groups appear to have gained some "sophistication" in their activities, indicating that they could have been trained by internationalist terror organizations.

"This just indicates that terrorist activities ... are very sophisticated, meaning that they can now make any type of bomb for that particular purpose," he said, adding that the latest attack occurred despite a heightened alert by authorities.

Janjalani is a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group which is allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda terror network of SAudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

Abu Sayyaf forces are the target of a military operation in the Sulu where they are still holding three Indonesian seamen and four Christian preachers whom they abducted earlier this year.

"We will get to the bottom of this. We condemn this terrorist act," said military Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, who has just taken command there.

Abaya immediately formed a task force to spearhead clearing operations in coordination with the Zamboanga City police.

Abaya took over from Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina who was relieved Tuesday following his failure to resolve the spate of bombings in the area and allegedly for the deaths of 11 Marine troopers in a lopsided encounter with the Abu Sayyaf in Patikul, Sulu.

An aborted attempt by top Abu Sayyaf commander Hamsiraji Sali to surrender to a group of Army intelligence officers last Saturday, and the still unsolved Malagutay and Kidapawan blasts were also considered a black mark for the former Southern command chief. — With AFP