By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
A powerful bomb aboard a bus in the southern Philippines Tuesday killed 11 and wounded 21, the military reported.
The blast took place near Central Mindanao University, Maramag town in rural Bukidnon province, at around 17.30 local time (09.30 GMT) as students made their way home, Captain Rowena Muyuela, a spokeswoman for Western Mindanao Command, said.
"The explosion happened just 30 meters away from the gate of the university," she said.
The victims, most of whom are thought to have been students, were taken to Valencia City Hospital.
Security forces are investigating the bomb, described as an improvised device that had been planted on a service operated by Rural Transit of Mindanao.
The Philippines Daily Inquirer newspaper quoted student Mark Anthony Anibong, a passenger on another bus, who said the explosion happened a few minutes after the Rural Transit bus stopped outside the university to pick up passengers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but police said the operator had previously been targeted by extortionists from the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and other armed groups operating in the region.
In November four people were injured on a Rural Transit bus heading for Cagayan de Oro City when a crude device made from a 60 millimeter mortar bomb exploded.
Lieutenant General Aurelio Baladad, commanding general of the Philippine Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command, said the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were responsible for the November attack.
The island of Mindanao is frequently wracked by acts of indiscriminate violence committed by insurgency groups and criminal gangs.
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