Bombing near US troops in Philippines: military

JOLO, Philippines, Sept 15, 2009 (AFP) - Local troops opened fire after a small bomb was hurled from outside a mosque towards US soldiers in a restive area of the southern Philippines, local military officials said on Tuesday.

The bomb in Jolo town on Monday did not hurt anyone, but appeared to be aimed at provoking US soldiers who are in the region to train Philippine forces, regional military chief Major General Benjamin Dolorfino said.


"They were startled so the (Philippine) marines opened fire," Dolorfino told reporters.

The bomb rocked a wharf where US soldiers were unloading supplies from a boat, Philippine military officials said.

Dolorfino said the blast was caused by a small home-made bomb hurled from a mosque just outside the wharf entrance.

The explosion left a small crater on the concrete pavement near the entrance of the wharf. Fresh bullet holes could also be seen on the back of the mosque and on nearby buildings.

However Philippine military officials said the assailant had not been caught and that no-one had been injured in the shooting.

Dolorfino and other Philippine military officials did not say how close the Americans were to the blast or how many US soldiers were in the area.

Dolorfino said he believed the bomb "was done not to hurt somebody but to make the soldiers react... probably the Americans specifically because their presence here is very controversial".

US troops have been stationed in the southern Philippines since 2003 to train Filipino forces in how to combat the Abu Sayyaf, a group of Muslim militants with links to Al-Qaeda.

The US troops are barred from taking part in combat operations in the Philippines but are allowed to carry weapons for self-defence.

The Philippines is a mainly Catholic country but a Muslim minority has been pushing for autonomy in the south of the country, with some taking up arms to press their cause.

The US embassy in Manila said it had no comment on Monday's incident.

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by Roland Jackson
(c) 2009 AFP