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Three
Mosques Bombed In Philippines
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Philippine
police investigators collect bomb fragments
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DAVAO,
Philippines, April 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A series of
grenade attacks ripped through three mosques in southern Philippines
Thursday, April 3, just hours after a deadly blast in a nearby wharf
killed 16 people late Wednesday, April 2.
The
mosque bombings in the town of Davao came shortly before President
Gloria Arroyo arrived in the area to meet with investigators and inspect
the damage from the deadly blast.
No
one claimed responsibility for the attacks on the wharf and the mosques,
which Arroyo blamed on "terrorists", Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
Police
have a sketch of a 36-year-old male suspect based on witness statements,
spokesman Senior Superintendent Eric Javier told the press.
The
triple blasts began at the mainly-Muslim district of Tibungco in the
south of Davao at about 2:00 am (1800 GMT Wednesday) when five hooded
men in a car hurled two grenades at a mosque and then sprayed it with
rifle fire before fleeing, police said.
A
few minutes later, another bomb exploded outside a mosque in the center
of the city in the mixed Christian-Muslim district of Toril, a police
report said.
Less
than an hour later, unidentified men in black jackets hurled a home-made
bomb near a mosque in the Muslim-majority district on Roxas Boulevard.
The
blast shattered the mosque's windows and damaged a parked van.
Police
first told reporters 14 Muslim scholars were slightly wounded but later
said there were no injuries.
"We
still don't know who were behind the attacks on the mosques, but there
is an ongoing investigation," said police spokesman Senior
Superintendent Eric Javier.
Police
were investigating whether the wharf bombing was connected to a similar
March 4 attack on the Davao
international airport in which 22 people were killed and 150 others
injured.
The
bombing was allegedly blamed on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF), which has been waging a bitter war for an independent Islamic
state in the south since 1978.
But
the MILF categorically denied any part in the latest violence.
MILF
spokesman Eid Kabalu warned that the mosque bombings "could have
been aimed at really igniting a Muslim-Christian war in Mindanao."
The
group has been engaged in fresh fighting with the government in recent
months.
But
on Sunday, it agreed to hold peace talks with Arroyo's administration
following an initial two-day meeting between both sides in Malaysia, the
BBC News Online
“Total
War”
Military
vice-chief of staff Lieutenant General Rodolfo Garcia said attacks might
be "a retaliatory action" but added that this should not be
allowed to become a "religious confrontation."
Arroyo
met with investigators of the bomb attacks Thursday and later visited
the site of the wharf blast and dropped by at a hospital to console the
wounded.
She
appealed to the public to heighten vigilance, warning that "the
threat of terror will be relentless."
"This
is a total war that requires the full attention and resources of the
entire community," she said.
Arroyo
issued an order late on Wednesday for the military and police to take
"all appropriate measures" against "lawless elements and
terrorists".
National
police chief Hermogenes Ebdane said police were investigating whether
last month's airport attack was connected to the bombings.
The
Wednesday bombing killed 16 people and injured at least 40. The bomb was
hidden in a barbecue stand and tore through the crowds leaving a ferry
terminal.
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