A total of 11 gasoline bombs were found in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga on Tuesday morning.
The 11 bombs were placed near a commercial center in the city, and meant to blow up and create fire, the Philippine Daily Inquirer on-line news quoted Zamboanga police officer Marcelino Herbano as saying.
Herbano said a bystander saw the several bottles similar to gas lamps lying along a major street in the city, and reported them to the police. When checked, the bottles were found to contain gasoline, and will likely be used as incendiary bombs.
Local police authority is looking into links between the bombs and reported suicide bombers having invaded the city to sow mayhem during Holy Week, a Catholic holiday in the Philippines beginning on Monday.
The military said on Monday that it is ready to thwart any attempt by the Abu Sayyaf bandits to mount attacks during the holiday in Mindanao in the south. Early reports here warned of Abu Sayyaf suicide bombers out to strike Zamboanga.
Military Southern Command spokesman Captain Noel Detoyato said earlier that the arrest of suspected Abu Sayyaf members in Zamboanga confirms reports that some of the terrorists were able to slip out of nearby island of Basilan where thousands of soldiers are hunting down a major fraction of the bandit group.
The Abu Sayyaf said on Monday it would release Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap in exchange for a truce so that one of its leaders injured amid gun fights could seek medical treatment. The military, however, promptly rejected the offer.
(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2002)
