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| Southeast Asia |
| Filippino corpse count now up to 9 from bombing |
| 2006-03-27 |
| An explosion at a grocery store on a violent southern island where U.S. troops recently conducted joint counterterrorism exercises killed at least nine people Monday, police said. The explosion, which left about a dozen people injured, took place in downtown Jolo on Jolo island, about 590 miles southeast of Manila, said police Senior Superintendent Ahirun Ajirim. He said it was not immediately clear what caused the explosion on the island, a stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels. Initial reports indicated the explosive device was stashed in a bag that was left by someone at a ground-floor baggage counter, he said. Philippine police and U.S. troops who took part in recent counterterrorism exercises arrived in the area shortly after the explosion. In February, when the exercises began, a bombing at a karaoke bar killed one person and wounded 28 near Jolo's army headquarters. The incident was blamed on Abu Sayyaf. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |