MLANG, PHILIPPINES—A bomb exploded at the entrance of a town market
packed with New Year’s Eve shoppers in the restive southern Philippines,
killing four people and wounding at least 30 others, officials said.
Police said they have no immediate suspects in the second such attack in
two months, but Muslim rebels opposed to a peace deal with the
government have been blamed for similar bombings in the past.
Most of the victims were shoppers buying fruits and horns used for
noise-making to greet the new year, said police chief Joan Resurreccion
of Mlang township in North Cotabato province.
Last month, a bomb blast at a billiard hall in the same town killed three people.
“This is not a happy new year for us people in Mlang,” said Mayor Joselito Pinol.
One suspect has been arrested in the previous bombing, but no group has claimed responsibility for either blast.
Minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation’s south have
been fighting for self-rule for decades. In March, the largest rebel
group signed an autonomy deal with
the government, but a breakaway faction called Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters was of several vowing to continue fighting.
Authorities accused the rebels of carrying out a bus bombing that killed
at least 10 people early this month in a province farther north. The
rebels have denied responsibility.
