Sketches of Zamboanga suspects released

ZAMBOANGA CITY - The identities of three of the four suspects in the twin bombings that rocked the commercial district here last Thursday may soon be known as police and military intelligence now have in their posession sketches of the suspects, based on accounts of witnesses.

A senior police official said one of the suspects was a woman and the one who allegedly brought the six-pound bombs in Shop-O-Rama and Shopper’s Central department stores.

According to witnesses, she is between 18 and 20 years old, with regular built and fair complexion.

The second suspect is believed to be 31 to 32 years old, slim built and has fair complexion with mustache. The third suspect, who was seen by witnesses holding two hand grenades and shouting "Bomba!" "Bomba!" moments before the bombings, was said to be in his early 20s, medium buit with fair complexion. Both men were estimated to be five feet, five inches tall.

Police have widened the search for the four suspects who are believed to have already slipped out of the city.

Meanwhile bomb experts are on the lookout for four other unexploded bombs, which was said to be still in possession of the suspects.

Elements of the city police’s explosive ordnance and disposal (EOD) team are studying the possibility that the type of bomb used in last Thursday’s attack was similar to the bomb exploded in Malagutay last Oct. 2, which killed an American Green Beret and three Filipino civilians.

According to the local EOD member, the explosive used could be a mixture of ammunition powder with high explosion intensity and triggered through cellular phones or other remote igniters. "It is always the pattern of any terrorist action to plant two bombs so that if they fail to detonate one, there would still be another," he explained.