ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 6, 2014) – Police have released a composite picture of one of two motorcycle men who exploded a grenade at a Catholic church that wounded at least 5 people in Zamboanga city in southern Philippines.
Senior Superintendent Angelito Casimiro, the local police chief, said a team of policemen is searching for the assailants behind the attack at the San Isidro Labrador Church in the village of Talon-Talon.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack and police have launched an investigation into the explosion. The victims, who are all residents of the area, were rushed to hospital.
Just recently, the house of a village chieftain Mohammad Nur Attang in Zamboanga City was also bombed by men riding tandem on a motorcycle in the neighboring village of Mampang, injuring three people.
Police said the Abu Sayyaf was believed behind the blast.
In November 2009, the church was also bombed, although there were no reports of casualties, but the blast damaged its concrete wall. A letter was also left by the assailant and warned that there will be more attacks in Zamboanga.
Also in 2008, the Immaculate Conception Metro Cathedral in downtown Zamboanga was also bombed, minutes after an explosion in the front of the Vienna Kaffe Haus along Veterans Avenue. A powerful bomb explosion also injured at least 20 people in Zamboanga City in August 2007. The bomb was planted at a public square in downtown Zamboanga. (With a report from E. Dumabo)
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