| Damn MILF splitters! |
Attacks by this splinter group - two officials were killed and a soldier wounded in an ambush also on Thursday - have added to concerns as talks with the new government have yet to restart. The government of President Benigno Aquino said it had wanted to resume talks with the MILF after the fasting month of Ramadan.
Philippine army intelligence officials said they thought an Islamist
"These rogue rebels, trained under Indonesian militants from Jemaah Islamiah to assemble crude bombs, are hoping to polarise the situation there," said one senior army intelligence official. "They are exploiting the uncertainty in the south due to delays in the peace talks, because most of the younger MILF field commanders are getting restless and impatient."
The police chief for western Mindanao said that the bomb used in the bus bombing - an 81 mm mortar triggered by a mobile phone - resembled devices used by Muslim rebels in similar bus attacks in 2008. "It's a signature bomb of rogue MILF rebels," Khu told reporters, saying investigators were still looking at all possible angles for the attack. "Terrorism is likely the motive."
| NPR and NYC mayor Bloomberg rushed out a joint statement saying that it was too early for unbiased people like themselves to discount the possibility that the bombing was done by tax protesters under the wicked sway of Fox News. |
| Oh dear. I did not expect that. |