Al-Khobar warns of more attacks in Koronadal
Olimpio Par, operations manager of YBL, told The STAR that the man called up their office three times Wednesday and warned the company that the bomb attacks they staged against the YBL is not yet over.
Par recorded all the calls, which he exclusively showed to The STAR yesterday inside his office.
The said calls were received by one of the YBL staff.
In his first and second calls at the office of YBL that took place at around 9:50 a.m. and
Par said after receiving the two calls, he immediately sought the assistance of
After five minutes (or
Par said the mobile phone number used by the unidentified caller was the same when he called the YBL office before the two bombs went off inside and outside the company’s terminal Aug. 3 that killed a Christian preacher and injured 12 other persons.
The Aug. 3 incident was the third attack against the YBL in two months time.
The continued attacks against YBL caused alarm among businessmen and they viewed it as “bad incidents” for business since bomb attacks “will not do good to the trading climate of the city.”
Earlier, the South Cotabato Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (SCCCII) urged the authorities to intensify their intelligence works to determine the identities and whereabouts of Al-Khobar members and the people behind its operations.
Al-Khobar, suspected to be an extortion wing of Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and with links to the notorious Abu Sayyaf group, had been reportedly demanding P500,000 monthly protection money from the YBL to finance their cause.
Al-Khobar’s presence was first noticed by authorities when it claimed responsibility in the series of bomb attacks against the Weena Bus Company based in
Security officials appealed to the public to be vigilant, saying the business of preventing the bad plans of the Al-Khobar gang is also the business of the public.
The 72nd Infantry Batallion (IB) based in nearby Tupi town has deployed two teams of its soldiers to help secure the terminal once the YBL resume its operations. Until now, its operation is still suspended.
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