Al-Khobar eyed in GenSan blast

COTABATO CITY – Police and military intelligence authorities are certain that the notorious Al-Khobar extortion ring was behind the bombing in General Santos City Wednesday night that left four people dead and 28 others seriously wounded.

General Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon condemned the bombing and assured the public that the police and military are now hot on the trail of the bombers.

“I and the entire city government strongly condemn this inhuman act. Together with my family, I extend our sympathies to the families of those injured and condolences to (the families of) those who were killed,” he said.

Acharon said he expect breakthroughs in the next 24 years in the joint police-military manhunt for those responsible for the explosion at the compound of the Philbest tuna canning plant in General Santos City.

Police were also eyeing an alleged labor conflict at the canning firm, said Chief Superintendent Felizardo Serapio, Central Mindanao police director.

Intelligence sources said there were strong indications that the Al-Khobar, which owned up to the recent spate of bombings of buses and commercial establishments in Central Mindanao, was also responsible for the explosion at the Philbest tuna canning plant.

The canning plant is located in Barangay Tambler, about eight kilometers away from the downtown area.

“There was prior feedback by informants that the Al-Khobar would again strike, but what wasn’t clear about the prior reports was the area where this extortion gang would strike,” one of the intelligence sources said.

A senior police intelligence officer said the Al-Khobar now has dozens of rouge Moro secessionist rebels in its ranks, some of them trained in the handling of explosives in Kandahar, Afghanistan by the Talibans in the late 1990s.

The Al-Khobar is known for its modus operandi of bombing commercial establishments first, to intimidate their owners, before demanding monthly “protection money.”

More than a dozen people have been killed in recent attacks by the Al-Khobar in different parts of Central Mindanao, including the cities of Kidapawan and Tacurong.

Last Wednesday’s bombing in General Santos City prompted the Kidapawan City government to tighten security.

Inspector Benjamin Mau-ricio, deputy chief for operations of the Kidapawan City police, said members of the North Cotabato Provincial Mobile Group have been fielded in all of the city’s entry and exit points to prevent possible attacks by the Al-Khobar.

The cities of Kidapawan, Koronadal, General Santos and Tacurong have been Al-Khobar’s favorite targets due to their thriving businesses.

The General Santos bombing drew the ire of many local leaders in Central Mindanao.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan tasked ARMM police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao to mobilize intelligence agents to help General Santos authorities gather information on the identities of the bombers.

North Cotabato Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol called on Central Mindanao’s Muslim and Christian residents to be vigilant and cooperate with the police to neutralize the Al-Khobar gang.

Ustadz Farid Solaiman Adas, chief of the ARMM’s Madaris Education Bureau, described the General Santos bombing as “satanic.” – With John Paul Jubelag