COTABATO (AFP) - Four people were wounded when a home-made bomb exploded in a bus terminal in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato on Friday, police said.
An unidentified man left a bag containing the bomb at the terminal of Weena Bus Lines when it exploded injuring four bus passengers, said police spokesman senior inspector Wally Casuyo.
Casuyo said extortion was the likely motive for the bombings.The bus company has been targeted by armed groups demanding money in the past.
The central region of the southern island of Mindanao has been hit by seven bombing incidents this year, many of them blamed on Muslim extremists with ties to the Jemaah Islamiyah or Al-Qaeda terror networks.
The last bombing in Cotabato City occurred on April 18 when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle went off prematurely, killing the suspected bomber.
Earlier this month, a bomb went off in a crowded marketplace in nearby Tacurong town, killing eight people. Jemaah Islamiyah are suspected to have planted the bomb.