ZAMBOANGA CITY—A local leader has condemned the twin explosions that shook this city on Thursday, saying perpetrators had no respect for a place of worship during the holy month of Ramadan.
Salman Galang, vice president of Ahlul-Bayt Phillipine Islamic Assembly Inc., called the bombings acts of cowardliness by perpetrators who took advantage of a power outage on the night of Aug. 16 to plant a homemade explosive outside the Masjid al Imam al Mandi located in Barangay Sutterville in Zamboanga City.
Galang said the mosque’s CCTV camera was on, although perpetratos may have thought it was not working because of the power outage.
“We have turned over the CCTV footage and hope it will be helpful in the ongoing investigation,” Galang said. “We are happy with the fast response of the local authorities in this incident and will do everything to help in the investigation.”
The other improvised explosive device went off inside a bus traveling from Pagadian City and carrying 24 passengers, seven of whom were injured.
Authorities said IEDs in the two incidents had the same components, but they have yet to pinpoint a motive.
The blasts came just days before Eid’l Fitr, the end of Ramadan.
