Blast rips cooperative market in Jolo, Sulu

A powerful explosion rocked a consumers’ cooperative market in Jolo, Sulu on Monday afternoon, killing nine and injuring an undetermined number, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Sulu said. The provincial OCD said the explosion occurred at around 1:15 p.m. at a consumer’s cooperative store on Sanchez street in the town Jolo. The victims' identities were withheld as of posting time. Authorities are still investigating who perpetrated the explosion and what type of explosives were used. Sulu is known to be the stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Group, a terrorist organization that has alleged linkages with the Al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden and with the Southeast Asian regional terrorist cell Jemaah Islamiyah. Apart from the Abu Sayyaf, a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front called the Misuari Breakaway Group headed by detained Moro leader Nur Misuari and a number of armed groups are also operating in the province. The province was one of the areas where Filipino and United States special operations forces held last month’s Balikatan exercises, a yearly joint training activity stipulated by the RP-US Mutual Defense Board. -GMANews.TV