US troops escape injury in crude bomb attack at Jolo wharf

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – Visiting US troops survived a bomb attack at the wharf in Jolo, Sulu late Monday, the military said yesterday.

No one was reported killed or injured when the makeshift bomb exploded at around 9:40 p.m., acting spokesman of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) Maj. Ramon David Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said the US troops were part of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) conducting a humanitarian mission in Sulu.

Hontiveros said the American troops were unloading logistics from a motorboat when unidentified men hurled an explosive device that turned out to be a pillbox.

Police and military authorities immediately suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists to be behind the attack.

Authorities noted the recent pronouncement of the Abu Sayyaf, notorious for kidnapping and beheading of American hostages, to attack US troops in Sulu.

JSOTF-P public affairs officer Maj. John Hutcheson said they are still investigating the attack.

Western Mindanao Command chief Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino confirmed the attack.

“Marine security were in the vicinity of the explosion while US troops were unloading their supplies from their watercraft,” Dolorfino said the American troops scared off the attackers by firing warning shots.

The incident, however, elicited adverse reactions from residents in the area.

Jolo Mayor Hussin Amin said a number of residents complained of the indiscriminate firing by the American troops. He said the people became more fearful that stray bullets might hit them.

Hontiveros said the initial investigation showed a group of men hurled the pillbox after emerging from the barter trade center a few meters away from the pier and the Jolo Internal Defense Force (JIDF).

The attack marked the first time that US military personnel were attacked in Jolo since their deployment in 2005.

Aside from humanitarian assistance, US troops had been helping Filipino troops in training and intelligence in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf and other terror groups in the region. – Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude