Philippines Bombs Kill 6 People, Injure 53 in South

Religion of Peace my ass alertBloomberg

Six people died and about 40 were hurt when an explosion occurred near a gasoline station in Jolo after 8 a.m. local time, police spokesman Jose Bayani Gucela said in a mobile phone message today.

Two hours later, an improvised bomb exploded near a pawnshop in Iligan, injuring 13 people, including three soldiers, the military said in a statement. This was the third blast in three days in the region, where Muslim separatist groups are demanding an independent Islamic state and the al- Qaeda-linked group Abu Sayyaf is active.

The death toll from a July 5 blast in Cotabato City rose to six after an injured infant died in a hospital, Colonel Romeo Brawner, a spokesman for the armed forces, said by telephone.

The Cotabato attack may be part of a plan to “sow terror” in central Mindanao and divert authorities from pursuing rogue commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Muslim separatist group in the country, Brawner said.