ZAMBOANGA CITY — Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday there is no conclusive evidence that a foreigner was involved in Tuesday’s bomb explosion in Lamitan City, Basilan.
Galvez said it was likely that the driver of the van loaded with explosives happened to be a foreign-looking individual.
“It is very unlikely a foreigner will perpetrate it alone considering he is not familiar with the terrain,” Galvez said in a press conference in Camp Navarro in this city.
From all indications, the AFP chief said the blast was the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and that the motive was extortion.
Tuesday’s bomb explosion resulted in the death of 10 people, including the driver of the van carrying the bombs while seven others were wounded. The fatalities included a soldier, four militiamen and four civilians, who were militia dependents.
Echoing Galvez’s statement, Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, said: “There is no definite and factual evidence that could point its (driver) foreign looking. It was darks inside the van.”
Dela Vega appealed to the public not to make speculations concerning the incident “otherwise they will serve as the spokesman of the terrorists.”
Dela Vega said it is also unlikely that the driver of the van was a suicide bomber since improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were being transported to the target area.
“There is that strong possibility the driver is just a courier and he doesn’t know anything about explosive, that it (van) was rigged,” he said.
The van suddenly exploded while the troops were about to inspect the vehicle at a checkpoint in the boundaries of Barangays Bulanting, Colonia and Maganda in Lamitan City, Basilan. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr/PNA)
