Nine killed: in suspected Muslim rebel attacks in Philippines

The explosion triggered a fire which gutted several shanties and shattered the windows of nearby buildings. Police Senior Inspector Efren Camaro said the bomb was planted under a wooden cart by suspected members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and appeared to have been designed "not to main or kill, but just to sow terror."

It was the second bomb explosion in the city since the military launched an offensive early this year against MILF camps in the southern Mindanao region. Two soldiers and one civilian were killed in an ambush Monday by about 20 MILF guerrillas in Carmen, North Cotabato province. The rebels fled after the attack, police said.

The following day, about 70 MILF rebels attacked a militia outpost in Tulunan town in the same province, leaving one soldier, one civilian and four guerrillas dead and three militiamen wounded, police said. Also late Tuesday, suspected MILF rebels lobbed a grenade near a gas station in Iligan City, injuring a driver of a waiting car, police said. On Wednesday, three people were injured when a bomb exploded in a market snack bar in Midsayap, North Cotabato, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) southeast of Manila.

The type of bomb used raised suspicions of rebel involvement since it was fashioned from a mortar shell, which MILF guerrillas often use in making homemade explosives, said police Senior Superintendent Paul Supiter. A second bomb, made of two mortars strapped together, was recovered under a car and safely detonated by a police bomb squad in Kidapawan City, the provincial capital. After the military captured the MILF's headquarters, Camp Abubakar, in July, the rebels shifted from semi-conventional to guerrilla warfare.

The MILF is the larger of two groups fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines. The other, the Abu Sayyaf, is holding five hostages, including three Malaysians and an American, on southern Jolo island. The government has said it is willing to resume peace talks with the MILF. Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado has indicated that negotiations could be held soon, possibly in a foreign country.

(AP)