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Monday 6 July 2009

Philippines: JI behind bombing outside Cathedral?

This is an update on this story: Philippines probes foreign angle in church blast - Yahoo! Singapore News
Major Randolph Cabangbang said investigators were probing whether Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the group behind the Bali bombings, may have been involved in the blast outside the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic cathedral.

He told reporters a number of JI militants are "here in the country."

Known members of the group Dulmatin, Umar Patek, and Zulkifli bin Hir are thought to be operating in the southern Philippines, he said, but added that there was no proof as yet they were involved.
If they didn't have enough with the MILF now they have also terrorists belonging to JI. This is not the first time a Cathedral is bombed in the Philippines and JI the main suspect. Last year, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral from Zamboanga was also bombed, with no casualties though:

Police have been placed on the highest level of security following the dawn explosions in Zamboanga city, regional police Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal said. Government troops and police had already tightened security in the town for a weeklong national sports festival and a medical conference, he said.

Zamboanga, about 860 kilometers (530 miles) south of Manila, is home to U.S. troops providing counterterrorism training to Filipino soldiers. The military says the region is home to more than 300 armed members of the al-Qada-linked Abu Sayyaf (aka JI) terror group.

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2 comments:

AOW said...

I try to keep up with the jihad in the Philippines as I have several friends from there. Each of those friends is always surprised at my knowledge of the matter as they have found that so few Americans realize the ongoing jihad there. I've learned that many of my Philippine friends, all Roman Catholics, fled that region precisely because of Islam.

Of course, the Moslems in the Philippines are even more emboldened every time the Philippine government grants a concession -- be that concession land or "understanding."

Claudia said...

TX for all your comments, AOW, they're very appreciated.

Well, it's worrying that there are JI's operatives (that is, directly AQ) infiltrating there. The MILF is violent enough to have these other guys there too.

"be that concession land or "understanding"".

Or directly your new "Islamic State in the south"
The Philippines government will push for the creation of a federal Islamic state in the country's troubled south as part of efforts to forge a peace agreement with Muslim separatist rebels, an official said Wednesday.
Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser on peace talks with insurgent groups in the Philippines, said the government will seek amendments to the country's constitution to allow the establishment of 'a federal Bangsamoro (Muslim nation) governance unit.'


They recently backtracked from that, I think I read somewhere, but in the end it's just the same... When you promise the terrorists something like that, they really believe they are going to get it. If MILF is now weaker that it was, the presence of JI's terrorists can suggest they are going to take control, with a possible boost in violence in the country.

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