ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 3, 2011) – Suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels blew up a bridge on Saturday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials said.
Officials said the rebels blasted the Tangan-Tangan Bridge in the village of Taung in Patikul town, where the military maintains a marine base. “No casualty was reported, but the bridge is now impassable to any type of vehicles,” Chief Inspector Amil Baanan, of the Sulu provincial police force, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the attack occurred at around 1.45 a.m. The motive of the bombing was unclear, but police and military blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the attack. “We have reports that the Abu Sayyaf was behind this attack,” Baanan said.
It was the second time the bridge was bombed by rebels. In October, rebels also bombed the bridge to prevent military forces from crossing the village that connects to other areas in the town where the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro National Liberation Front are known to actively operate.
In September 2009, rebel forces also detonated a roadside bomb in Sulu’s Indanan town and killing 2 US soldiers and a Filipino marine.
US Special Forces are deployed in Sulu since 2006 and aiding the Philippine military in defeating the Abu Sayyaf. Although security officials deny US forces were directly involved in combat operations, there were numerous reports from civilians that American soldiers actually participated in the operations aimed at capturing or killing militant leaders in Sulu and other areas in the restive southern region of Mindanao.
A US soldier was also killed and another wounded in a bomb attack at a roadside cafe near an army in Zamboanga City in October 2002. (Mindanao Examiner)
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