ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 11, 2013) – Police have destroyed Saturday two suspicious bags abandoned in downtown Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province and in nearby Zamboanga City, a motorcycle left at a Catholic Church sent police bomb squad into the compound to inspect the vehicle, but they found no bomb.
Civilians discovered the suspicious bag left at a public square in Ipil town and informed authorities about it. Police sent bomb experts, but found no explosive in the bag.
Another bag was left in front of a shop at the public market and police and soldiers have cordoned off the area. The tense situation turned to worse after two motorcycle riders and their two passengers broke into police line.
The four were apprehended and were being investigated.
Bomb squad members and their K9 unit inspected the bag for about an hour before a bomb expert, clad in armour, pulled it away from the shop and placed it slowly in an area where it was safely disrupted using a water jet.
An official with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal said the bag contained no explosive or bomb. “We used water (jet) disruptor to be sure and there was neither bomb nor traces of explosives,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
The abandoned bags created a bomb scare in Ipil town, which was pillaged by Abu Sayyaf rebels in 1995.
Just recently, police also used water jet disruptor in a suspected car bomb left at the Gaisano Mall parking in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province. But no explosives were found in the car, although it caused a bomb scare in the city.
The disruptor is a tool commonly used by EOD to disable an explosive device without detonating or exploding it. It uses a shot of water to pierce through thin walled items, such as packages and bags, or briefcases, to destroy any circuitry before detonation occurs. (Mindanao Examiner)
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