THE deadly explosion that ripped through Basilan City on Tuesday (July 31), killing 10 persons, including a suspected suicide bomber, was carried out with the use of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil as part of the strategy of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) to raise money by way of international funding, a military officer said, belying initial claims it was the handiwork of the Islamic State.
Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Mindanao Command, said that the Basilan-based cash-strapped terrorists have to shore up their coffers, as the military has remarkably succeeded in checking their money-making activities, including kidnapping.
He said the ASG needed the bombing incident as a “bargaining chip” in order to raise funds from local and international supporters. Hence, the group carried out the bombing.
Before it could be actually implemented to inflict casualties by the hundreds in the heart of the city as planned, however, security forces in the area were able to intercept the van loaded with the explosive materials, Besana added.
The massive explosion was carried out, ironically, just days after President Duterte called on the ASG terrorists for talks, and after the Moro Islamic Liberation Front confidently declared that the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) will isolate terrorism in Mindanao.
IS or ASG?
Without precluding the outcome of the investigation, military officials have reason to believe that the bombing was perpetrated by the ASG, contrary to the claim of the Islamic State that it was behind the bombing.
While the blast may be powerful enough, this is not the first time that the ASG has carried out such bombing with the use of ammonium nitrate.
“This is not the first time that the ASG has used such a bomb, there is a pattern,” said Besana, noting that in 2011, the terrorist group had also attempted to bomb the grandstand in Isabela City, Basilan.
The bomb, which was made of ammonium nitrate and stuffed in a vehicle, prematurely went off, however, killing five ASG members.
“It is almost entirely the same. The kind of bomb that was used, the use of vehicle and the death of the vehicle occupant,” Besana said.
“It is the signature of the ASG,” he said.
The use of ammonium nitrate—indicating it was a homemade bomb—and the availability of the chemical in the market as it is widely used by farmers and even fishermen, bolstered Besana’s declaration that the bombing was the handiwork of the ASG.
“But again, we don’t want to preclude the outcome of the investigation as it is still ongoing,” he said.
While the IS has owned up to the bombing, other officials, including Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, have refused to identify any particular group behind the bombing in deference to the ongoing probe.
According to Besana, the blast, which occurred near a detachment manned by militiamen, created a crater that is about 4 feet deep and about 4 meters up to 5 meters in diameter.
Military officials believe that had it been slipped into the heart of Lamitan City and detonated in an area where there is a big concentration of people, it could have easily killed at least 200 people, or even as many as thousands.
Raising funds through terror
Besana said that through the bombing, the ASG wanted to court both local and international funding, which it needed to finance and sustain its operation.
“They needed funds and the best way to get the attention of donors is by way of the bombing and other terror activities,” he said.
“They wanted to project that they are still around,” he added.
Other than raising money to support its operation, the ASG also needs money to finance its attempt of recruitment following the decline in its membership.
Besana said the ASG in Basilan is on a steady decline, as a result of the continuing surrender and neutralization of its members.
The trend was bolstered by the surrender months ago of Furudji Indama, the most active commander of the terrorist group in the province.
The yielding of Indama prompted Lorenzana and even Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. to declare that the ASG was on its way to extinction.
With the muscle-flexing it showed—assuming the military theory is correct—the ASG, however, signals that such may not be the case, and we may witness more of its grim signature in the days to come.
Image credits: AP