Dawlah Islamiyah, injured passenger linked to Tacurong bus bombing

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Police pointed to the Dawlah Islamiyah as the group behind the bombing of a bus last Sunday, November 6, that killed a passenger and hurt 11 others in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province.

They also identified one of those injured as a suspected bomber.

Soccsksargen police chief Brigadier General Jimili Macaraeg said on Thursday, November 10, that the bus owner, Yellow Bus Lines Incorporated, received extortion letters traced to the terrorist group before Sunday’s bomb attack.

Joint Task Force Central and 6th Infantry Division commander Major General Roy Galido said the company has long been receiving extortion letters from the group. 

Macaraeg said the Special Investigation Task Group Yellow Bus also identified 55-year-old Esmael Tamama Domilang as a suspect.

Domilang was badly hurt as one of two bombs went off and ripped through the bus while it was on its way to a terminal in Tacurong.

He was one of the 11 people rushed to hospitals shortly after the explosion at around 11:30 am on Sunday. His legs were amputated.

Investigators said it was apparently a case of a bomb going off prematurely.

Crime scene investigators and bomb experts found a second bomb in the bus and diffused it.

Police said the bus came from Kidapawan City and was headed to Tacurong, and Domilang boarded it in Buluan town in Maguindanao province.

“We will continue to hunt down his cohorts and ultimately dismantle the Dawlah Islamiyah group which is believed to be responsible for this atrocity and other YBL bus bombings in the region,” Macaraeg said.

On May 26, buses owned by the same company were bombed in Koronadal and Tacurong cities, attacks authorities had also blamed on the Dawlah Islamiyah. – Rappler.com