Bomb explodes in southern Philippine town

Apr 10, 2009, 3:56 GMT

   Cotabato City, Philippines - A homemade bomb exploded in front of a store in a southern Philippine town Friday but no one was hurt, police said.

   The blast occurred at dawn outside the Azen General Merchandise store in Kalamansig town in Sultan Kudarat province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

   The bomb was made from a 60-millimetre mortar round attached to a mobile phone as a triggering device, said Chief Inspector Celestino Daniel, the town police chief.

   Daniel said the explosion damaged the store's facade but no one was injured in the attack, which occurred as Catholics around the Philippines observed Good Friday.

   'We are still investigating the attack,' he said, adding that extortion could be a motive for the bombing.

   Authorities were also looking into the possible involvement of Muslim separatist rebels in the attack.

   In August, Kalamansig was among the areas raided by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in a series of attacks that triggered fierce fighting with the military.

   The rebel attacks and subsequent clashes between the guerrillas and the military killed nearly 300 people and forced more than 500,000 people to flee their homes.

   The MILF is the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the southern Philippines. It has been waging its secessionist campaign since 1978.

   Peace talks between the rebel group and the Philippine government have been suspended since the hostilities broke out last summer. Efforts to resume the negotiations have so far been unsuccessful.