A crude bomb exploded prematurely in the southern Philippines, wounding a seven-year-old girl, another passer-by and two suspected Muslim rebels who allegedly carried the device, officials said yesterday.
The suspects were on a motorcycle when the bomb, made from an 81mm mortar shell, accidentally went off late on Thursday in front of a restaurant in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao Province — scene of sporadic clashes between army troops and rebels, the military said.
The seven-year-old girl and a woman were wounded by shrapnel and taken to a hospital, said military spokesman Major Randolph Cabangbang. The two would-be bombers were also hurt and placed in police custody while an investigation continued, he said.
The province is a stronghold of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, who have been fighting for self-rule in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation’s south for decades.
Fresh violence erupted two months ago when the Supreme Court blocked the signing of a proposed accord on an expanded Muslim autonomous region, prompting three rebel commanders to go on a deadly rampage in several predominantly Christian communities.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the arrest of the commanders and suspended Malaysian-brokered peace talks with the rebel group. More than 100 civilians have been killed and about 375,000 displaced in the fighting.
In the days before Thursday’s explosion, government troops had disarmed three other homemade bombs at a bus depot in Kabacan town in neighboring North Cotabato Province. Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando blamed the rebels for planting the bombs.
The rebels did not comment immediately but in the past have denied such accusations.
Residents in nearby Shariff Kabunsuan Province, meanwhile, were awakened early yesterday by a series of powerful explosions. The military said that a fire, possibly caused by a defective cannon shell, triggered explosives in an ammunition dump inside an army camp, but there were no casualties.
Military investigators ruled out sabotage in the blaze that destroyed the depot just before dawn, officials said.
The fire, which lasted nearly two hours, ignited mortar ammunition stored inside the facility and set off a series of blasts, triggering panic among the public wary of attacks from Muslim separatist rebels, officials said.
An initial investigation showed the fire might have been started by “exposure of white phosporous charges” that created sparks, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres said in Manila.
“Sabotage is not apparent,” he said.
“The investigation is still ongoing,” he said, adding that the facility was heavily secured and is located in between two hills as a safety precaution in any event of accidental explosions.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS