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January 23, 2015: Car bombing in the Philippines

On this day in 2015 a car bomb exploded in the Philippines city of Zamboanga, killing one and injuring 48.

ZAMBOANGA, PHILIPPINES – Some terrorist groups will go to extreme lengths to free their jailed members.

What do you think about terrorists? Are they ‘honourable‘ people? Do they exhibit any qualities that are admirable? Would you want one as a neighbour?

I will go out on a limb here and answer ‘no!’ to all three questions. We do not normally associate any good characteristics to terrorists for the simple reason that their #1 goal is to kill, maim and destroy.

What it there to like about any of that?

And yet there do appear to be some aspects of some terrorists that coincide with what we would see as good to have. Like loyalty. There are accounts of terrorists who go out of their way to protect their fellow violent extremists.

Or even try to get them out of prison.

On this day in 2015

A car bomb exploded in the Philippines city of Zamboanga, killing one and injuring 48. The blast may have been planned by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), an Al Qaeda (AQ) linked terrorist organisation in that country.

Speculation arose that the attack was tied to an attempt by ASG to break 57 of their comrades out of prison. In fact, the city had been placed under red alert after a foiled jailbreak at the city jail involving the group of an ASG.

We have received notices (from the intelligence community) that they are going to be rescued by their comrades, who are ready to die,

Zamboanga City Mayor Climaco

Rescuing jailed comrades could be seen as a honourable trait, if it were not for the fact that both those on the inside and the outside were terrorists.

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By Phil Gurski

Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. Phil is a 32-year veteran of CSE and CSIS and the author of six books on terrorism.

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