Police foil bombing in Cotabato City

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / November 17, 2009) – Police have foiled the bombing of a bus depot in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines, scene of previous rebel attacks that had killed and wounded dozens of civilians.

Police said it recovered Monday a bag containing an improvised explosive attached to a cellular phone in front of the bus depot. It said two men on a motorcycle left the bag and hurriedly left.

It said the explosive was discovered later after civilians told the police about the abandoned bag. The bomb was later disarmed. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the foiled attack.

Last month, a homemade bomb also exploded in Cotabato City, but no one was killed or injured in the attack, but a bombing in July outside a Catholic church had killed five people. The attack was blamed by the military to Moro rebels who are fighting for decades for independence in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)