15 dead in bomb blast
April 03, 2003

AT least 15 people were killed and 50 others injured in a bomb explosion that ripped through a busy wharf in the southern Philippine city of Davao, officials said.

President Gloria Arroyo blamed "terrorists" for the blast, the second within a month in the commercial capital of the country's troubled south.

She condemned the bombing as a "treacherous act" and ordered the military and police to launch a massive crackdown against the culprits.

The explosion went off near a row of food stalls and the passenger terminal at the Sasa wharf near Davao city, some 950 km south of Manila, officials said. The Davao city medical centre said five people were killed on the spot while the others died at the hospital following the powerful blast that occurred around 7pm (9pm AEST).

Military officials said about 50 people were taken to hospitals with injuries.

A security official, who did not want to be named, said the blast appeared to have been caused by a powerful improvised explosive device.

"These terrorists will be hunted down and be made to face the full force of the law," said Arroyo, who had recently expressed fears of terrorist reprisals for her government's moral support for the US-led invasion of Iraq.

She described Davao as being in a state of "lawless violence" and ordered police and military to launch a massive crackdown, to include stepped-up patrols and the setting up of checkpoints.

A witness said a man wearing a camouflaged uniform was seen loitering near the area before he left a black bag containing the explosive.

"I did not know what happened next. There was an explosion from the black bag," said Melinda Relasyon, among the wounded together with her son, Jobert.

Police and military troops immediately cordoned off the blast site as sniffer dogs and ordnance experts sifted for clues in the rubble.

The mangled remains of at least four victims were strewn on the ground, as ambulances wailed past to carry the injured to the hospital.

The national highway leading to Sasa has also been closed to traffic.

Arroyo, who is currently on a tour of the central and southern Philippines, appealed to the public to remain vigilant and the appropriate authorities to secure "potential targets" of suspected terrorists.

"The police and military alone cannot do it. This is a total war requiring the full attention and resources of the entire community," she said.

The explosion came nearly a month after a bomb attack left 23 people dead and more than 150 others injured at the Davao city international aiport on March 4. The wharf is about a kilometre away from the airport.

The government blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim separatist group, for the airport blast but the rebels flatly rejected the charge.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told AFP today that his group wanted a thorough investigation over the latest blast "because the civilians are the ones suffering.

"We did not have anything to do with that. Like what we said before, we are willing to cooperate in any investigation. The MILF does not hit civilians."

Kabalu said immediately after the bombing, an aide to Mayor Duterte called him up to ask about possible MILF involvement in the blast.

Agence France-Presse