A bomb similar to the one that exploded in Davao City last September was found in a garbage bin near the US embassy in Manila Monday.

The improvised explosive device composed of a cellphone, blasting cap, nine-volt battery and 81-millimeter mortar bomb was found by a street sweeper about 200 meters from the embassy.

TRAGEDY AVERTED – Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa inspects an 81-mm mortar shell, part of an improvised explosive device (IED) that was discovered on Roxas Boulevard in Manila, just 200 meters from the United States Embassy. (AP | Manila Bulletin)

Police defused the bomb, which Metro Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde said could have caused major damage and injuries within a hundred-meter radius.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said Islamic militants in the southern Philippines who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group were probably behind the incident.

“This is an attempted act of terrorism,” Dela Rosa told a news briefing.

“Because of an ongoing police/military operation there, (the militants) have many casualties. We can theorize that this is a diversion to loosen our operations,” he added.

The military began an operation last Thursday against the Maute Group, which staged the Davao bombing that killed 15 people.

Dela Rosa said he believed the Maute gang or the Ansar Khilafa Philippines, another southern-based group sympathetic to IS, left the bomb near the US embassy.

Likewise, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman said the military is not discounting the possibility that the Maute Group could be behind the improvised explosive device (IED) found in front of the US embassy on Monday.

Padilla said the signature of the bomb may be similar to the bomb used by the Maute Group.

Police said the bomb was left early Monday by a taxi passenger, who stopped and threw the device into a trash bin. A street sweeper, Ely Garcia, later found the package and reported it to police, officials added.

Dela Rosa said the bomb had the same design as the device the Maute group used in the Davao attack.

“Unless we get hard evidence, by analysis we can theorize this can be linked to Maute because of what happened in Davao,” he said.

Manila police chief Joel Coronel said authorities were coordinating with the US embassy to determine if the mission was the target of an attempted bombing.

Police cordoned off the south bound lane of Roxas Boulevard to Kalaw Street, creating heavy traffic along the boulevard.

Malacañang quickly assured the public there is no reason to panic over the discovery of a bomb, saying the government is tightening security around at airports, bus terminals and other public places.

“We assure the public that this incident should not be a cause for alarm. Business and work continue as normal,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.

Andanar said the PNP is “on top of the situation” and “shall beef up security measures in public places especially where there are big crowds.”

“To ensure public safety in airports, seaports, bus and mass transport terminals, concerned transport agencies are instructed to increase the visibility and presence of uniformed personnel and heighten the screening of persons and luggage as part of our security vigilance,” Andanar said. (With reports from Francis T. Wakefield, Raymund F. Antonio, and Agence France-Presse) 

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Betheena Kae Unite and Genalyn D. Kabiling

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