An explosion hit a live concert at a restaurant in Basilan province of southern Philippines Tuesday evening, wounding at least 17 people, security authorities said.
Brigate General Rustico Guerrero, commander of the Marine forces on the island of Basilan, told on-line news network GMA News that the attack, which occurred at around 9 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) in downtown Isabela City, injured at least 17.
Military officials said two unidentified persons, allegedly members of the Abu Sayyaf group, threw a fragmentation grenade when they passed by the Isabela Jollibee fast food branch on a motorcycle.
Guerrero said most of those injured in the explosion were civilians relaxing in front of the branch store.
The 370-member Abu Sayyaf, a listed international terrorist organization, is accused of engineering a series of bloody public attacks and kidnappings in the Philippines in recent years.
The Philippine government, aided by the U.S. military, has deployed thousands of troops in the Abu Sayyaf's strong-hold Basilan and Sulu provinces to scale up the operation against the group.
The authority vowed to stamp out insurgency in conflict-torn Mindanao by 2010.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article