8 people hurt in bombing in Philippine south

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (AA) - A bomb exploded near an electric cooperative in Central Mindanao on Monday, wounding eight people in what authorities believe is the handwork of a breakaway Moro rebel group which has pledged allegiance to Daesh, officials said.

The explosion happened along the national highway at around 8:30 a.m. local time (0030GMT) near the main entrance of Sultan Kudarat Electric Cooperative building in Tacurong City, said Senior Superintendent Raul Supiter, Sultan Kudarat's police chief.

The blast victims were a sidewalk vendor and seven power cooperative employees, Supiter told local reporters in Cotabato City.

He said a man was seen throwing something in front of a cooperative office, where a forum of workers was about to start.

Superintendent Romeo Galgo Jr, regional spokesperson, said the latest bombing in Tacurong City was the seventh in Central Mindanao since last week.

On Saturday, a 16-year-old pedicab driver was injured when an improvised bomb exploded along Quezon Avenue at 4:30 a.m.

Authorities blamed the so-called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, for the series of bombings.

The military also blamed the BIFF for all the bomb attacks in central Mindanao in recent years. However, the Moro splinter group denied the claim.