Soldier killed in Jolo blast

ZAMBOANGA CITY (AFP) — A homemade bomb exploded as it was being disarmed outside an airport in Jolo, Sulu, yesterday, killing a soldier and wounding another, the military said.

Civilians found the improvised explosive device concealed in a cardboard box that had been left near a perimeter fence of the Jolo airport. Troops were alerted and tried to disarm it, but it exploded, killing one.

A second bomb was found on a roadside also near the airport but was safely detonated, said Lt. col. Renoir Pascua, information chief of the military’s Southern Command.

"The powerful blast killed the soldier instantly and another soldier was injured and we still don’t know who’s behind this latest act of terrorism," said Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias, commander of the Army’s civil relations group in the South.

"Civilians informed the military about the bomb after they saw electrical wires protruding from the box," he said.

Authorities have yet to determine who was behind the bomb attack, but Jolo is a stronghold of the Muslim Abu Sayyaf group, considered by the governments of the United States and Manila to be a terrorist organization.

The explosion came as authorities across the Philippines were placed on high alert to thwart possible attacks on vital installations during the holidays.

The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a spate of kidnappings and bombings in the southern Philippines in recent years.

Officials had earlier warned of retaliatory attacks in the south after one of its leaders, Ghalib Andang, was wounded and captured earlier this month by troops in Jolo.

Andang, alias Commander Robot, is under tight guard at a military hospital in Quezon City, where he is recuperating from his injuries. — With Roel Pareño