AT LEAST 11 people have been killed by suspected home-made bombs that exploded in a budget hotel and at a cockfighting arena in the southern Philippines today.
The nearly simultaneous blasts ripped through a room inside the hotel and at the cockfighting arena at around noon in Zamboanga city, which was celebrating an annual Roman Catholic festival, said Zamboanga Mayor Celso Lobregat.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the blasts.
The city has been hit by deadly bombings by al-Qaida-linked militants in the past.
Army Col Buenaventura Pascual said one suspected bomb went off in a room at the Red Palm Pension House, which sits beside a bus terminal.
A second suspected bomb blast wounded five people in a cockfighting arena in the city’s San Roque village.
Lobregat said investigators reported at least 11 people were wounded in the bomb explosions, which prompted him to convene an emergency committee to try to prevent more attacks.
The military and police were on alert and publicly visible because the bustling city of about 700,000 people was celebrating a religious festival. The attackers chose what officials thought were unlikely targets, he said.
Zamboanga city, where US counterterrorism troops have been based for years to train local troops, has been hit by deadly bombings blamed on al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants, who are based on nearby Basilan island.
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