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Philippine blast kills 5, injures 17+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)MANILA, March 27_(Kyodo) _ At least five people were killed and 17 injured in a bomb attack Monday at a store on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines, the military said. A military report said the 1:15 p.m. explosion tore through a baggage counter of the store, and that the five people killed were all near the counter. The military blamed the blast on the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaida-linked group behind a series of kidnappings and killings in the strife-torn region. Army Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo, the island's military chief, said the blast was triggered by a cellphone. "The attack has the trademark of the Abu Sayyaf," he added. Last month, a man was killed and more than two dozen injured in a blast outside a karaoke bar on Jolo Island before the start of a joint military exercise between Philippine and U.S. soldiers. |