Philippine authorities yesterday blamed Muslim militants for the bombing of a night market in Davao City that killed at least 14 people.
An improvised explosive device tore through the bustling market in the heart of the city, close to one of its top hotels, just before 11pm on Friday.
Authorities said the Abu Sayyaf, a band of militants that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State group, most likely carried out the attack in response to a military offensive launched against it last week.
Photo: Reuters
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Martin Andanar said Duterte believed the militants were behind the blast.
“The office of the president texted and confirmed that was an Abu Sayyaf retaliation. For the city government side, we are working on that it is an Abu Sayyaf retaliation,” Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, who is also the president’s daughter, told CNN Philippines.
Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana said the Abu Sayyaf had struck back after sustaining heavy casualties on its stronghold of Jolo Island about 900km from Davao.
Duterte, who was in Davao at the time of the attack, but not near the market, told reporters before dawn yesterday that it was an act of terrorism as he announced extra powers for the military.
Duterte declared a “state of lawlessness” that covered the Mindanao region.
He said it did not amount to an imposition of martial law, but would allow troops to be deployed in urban centers to back up the police in setting up checkpoints and increasing patrols.
Police said that at least 14 people were killed and 67 were wounded in the explosion.
Sixteen of the injured were in critical condition, a local hospital director told reporters.
Durian vendor Maribel Tabalwon, 34, told reporters that chaos broke out after the blast.
She helped rescue three people, but one of them, a woman who was seven months pregnant, died.
“The blast was so loud the ground shook. She was crawling, but she was lucky enough no one trampled her during the stampede. She was shaking and bleeding,” Tabalwon said.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
MARITIME SECURITY: Of the 52 vessels, 15 were rated a ‘threat’ for various reasons, including the amount of time they spent loitering near subsea cables, the CGA said Taiwan has identified 52 “suspicious” Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience that require close monitoring if detected near the nation, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday, as the nation seeks to protect its subsea telecoms cables. The stricter regime comes after a Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly detained by the CGA earlier this month on suspicion of damaging an international cable northeast of Taiwan. The vessel is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company with a Chinese address given for its only listed director, the CGA said previously. Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt
RSS