April 3, 1996, Seattle Times, Philippines moves to end bombings on Mindanao,

April 3, 1996, Seattle Times, Philippines moves to end bombings on Mindanao, 

MANILA - Philippine President Fidel Ramos today ordered the armed forces to battle a wave of bomb attacks on the southern island of Mindanao.

Five people were injured yesterday when two home-made bombs exploded at two movie theaters in Zamboanga city. They were the seventh and eighth bombings in the southern region in the past three weeks.

Police said they suspected the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf was behind most of the bombings but might have been carried out by right-wing groups opposed to peace talks with the Moro National Liberation Front, the mainstream Muslim group that has been fighting for 23 years for autonomy in the southern islands.