February 11, 2009 2:27 PM
- Text
Four Hurt In Philippines Hotel Bomb Blasts
(AP)
Two homemade bombs exploded almost simultaneously Sunday in two budget hotels in a southern Philippine city, wounding at least four people in the latest in a series of bomb attacks in the volatile south, officials said.
The first bomb exploded in a guest room in the Iligan Travelers Inn near a shopping mall in southern Iligan city, wounding at least three people. A second bomb went off within minutes in a room in the Caprice Lodging House, injuring one, according to army and police officials.
Bomb experts checked all hotels and lodging houses in Iligan to make sure they were safe, army Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, the latest to hit the country's south in recent days amid renewed hostilities between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an 11,000-strong rebel group that has waged a decades-long battle for Muslim self-rule in the southern Mindanao region.
Officials in Iligan, a predominantly Christian city of 300,000 people, have strongly opposed a preliminary accord between the government and the rebels that calls for the expansion of an existing Muslim autonomous region to include more than 700 new villages, including eight in Iligan, subject to the approval of residents in a plebiscite.
Iligan Mayor Lawrence Cruz told a local radio station that his city would not drop its opposition to the accord, which is being challenged by opponents before the Supreme Court.
Philippine officials suspect the rebels were responsible for three bomb explosions that damaged two power transmission pylons late Wednesday and wounded a suspected rebel Thursday in southern North Cotabato province. Three other unexploded bombs were found in the province late last week, police said.
Nearly 3,000 troops and police dislodged about 1,000 rebels from 15 predominantly Christian farming villages the guerrillas had seized in North Cotabato, displacing about 80,000 people. The massive three-day assault ended Wednesday.
Despite the rebel pullout, military chief Gen. Alexander Yano said last week that security in southern Mindanao island remained "volatile and fluid," adding that the rebels could be planning more attacks in the sprawling region.
Police officials have been concerned that the rebels could launch bombings in other cities, including the capital, Manila.
The first bomb exploded in a guest room in the Iligan Travelers Inn near a shopping mall in southern Iligan city, wounding at least three people. A second bomb went off within minutes in a room in the Caprice Lodging House, injuring one, according to army and police officials.
Bomb experts checked all hotels and lodging houses in Iligan to make sure they were safe, army Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, the latest to hit the country's south in recent days amid renewed hostilities between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an 11,000-strong rebel group that has waged a decades-long battle for Muslim self-rule in the southern Mindanao region.
Officials in Iligan, a predominantly Christian city of 300,000 people, have strongly opposed a preliminary accord between the government and the rebels that calls for the expansion of an existing Muslim autonomous region to include more than 700 new villages, including eight in Iligan, subject to the approval of residents in a plebiscite.
Iligan Mayor Lawrence Cruz told a local radio station that his city would not drop its opposition to the accord, which is being challenged by opponents before the Supreme Court.
Philippine officials suspect the rebels were responsible for three bomb explosions that damaged two power transmission pylons late Wednesday and wounded a suspected rebel Thursday in southern North Cotabato province. Three other unexploded bombs were found in the province late last week, police said.
Nearly 3,000 troops and police dislodged about 1,000 rebels from 15 predominantly Christian farming villages the guerrillas had seized in North Cotabato, displacing about 80,000 people. The massive three-day assault ended Wednesday.
Despite the rebel pullout, military chief Gen. Alexander Yano said last week that security in southern Mindanao island remained "volatile and fluid," adding that the rebels could be planning more attacks in the sprawling region.
Police officials have been concerned that the rebels could launch bombings in other cities, including the capital, Manila.
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