Incident Summary:
04/02/2003: A bomb planted by a row of food stalls and restaurants near the entrance gate of a passenger terminal at the Sasa Wharf in Davao, Philippines exploded, killing 16 people and injuring 55 others. The Government suspected that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was responsible for the attack, but MILF denied responsibility and condemned the bombing. Two individuals were later arrested for this attack. Ismael Acmad, also known as Toto, was identified as the alleged planner. Tahome Urong, also known as Sermin Tohami, was identified as an alleged accomplice. They reportedly belong to the Special Operations Group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and have links to Jemaah Islamiyah.
Overview
GTD ID:
200304020001
When:
2003-04-02
Country:
Philippines
Region:
Southeast Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Davao del Sur
City:
Davao City
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Maritime |
Name of Entity |
Passenger terminal at the Sasa wharf |
Specific Description |
Citizens at the Sasa wharf passenger terminal |
Nationality of Target |
Philippines |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Unknown Explosive Type |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
There was another bomb attack nearly a month prior at the Davao city international airport which killed approximately 23 people and injured more than 150 others. It was uncertain if there was any correlation between the reported incidents. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
2 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
16 Fatalities / 55 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
16 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
55 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
Unknown |
Sources
Sources
"Al Least Nine Dead, 25 Injured in Blast in Southern Philippines," Hong Kong AFP, April 2, 2003. |
Richard C. Paddock and Al Jacinto, "The World; Philippine Blast Kills at Least 16 People; The Powerful explosion near a crowded ferry pier also leaves more than 40 injured. A nun and two children are among the dead," Los Angeles Times, April 3, 2003. |
Paul Alexander, "Blast kills at least 16, injures 40 in Southern Philippines," The Associated Press, April 2, 2003. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties