Manila, Mar 05: The Abu Sayyaf group linked to the al-Qaeda terror network claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing of an airport in the southern Philippines, local television reported today.
Hamsiraji Sali, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf, told ABS-CBN television that his group staged the bombing at the Davao City airport yesterday which left 21 people dead and injured more than 150 others.
The television station said the Abu Sayyaf apologised to the victims of the blast but was planning more bombings in the troubled south and other parts of the country to hurt the economy.
The government announced earlier that five members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had been arrested and were being questioned in connection with the airport blast.
The 12,500-strong MILF, waging a 25-year campaign to set up an Islamic state in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic nation, has denied responsibility for the bombing attack.
The smaller Muslim Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group, which has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, has been under constant pressure from the military in the recent months.
President Gloria Arroyo last week set a 90-day deadline for the military to crush the Abu Sayyaf and there are plans to deploy us troops on its stronghold island of Jolo.
The Abu Sayyaf has been a thorn in the side of the government for about a decade, kidnapping Christians and foreigners and holding them hostage.
Bureau Report
