2 killed, 5 wounded in North Cotabato bus bombing

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Two persons were killed and at least five others were wounded when an improvised explosive device went off in the compartment of a bus in Carmen, North Cotabato, the military here said.

Colonel Benjie Hao, chief of the 7th Infantry Battalion based in Carmen, said the victims were passengers of a Rural Transit bus where the blast occurred.

Colonel Leopoldo Galon, speaking for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the blast happened as the bus was arriving at the terminal in Poblacion Carmen, North Cotabato at 10:25 a.m.

The bus, with body number 2922 and license plate number KVS-740, was headed Cagayan de Oro City from Tacurong City.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing,   but the authorities initially blamed extortion groups operating in North Cotabato.

Bomb experts were still conducting an investigation.

But Galon said extortion gangs linked to Muslim rebels have been suspected in previous such attacks in the region.

A long-running Muslim rebellion and criminal gangs are behind decades-long unrest in the southern Philippines, home to minority Muslims in the predominantly Christian nation.