MANILA, Philippines – A Philippine military official says suspected hardline Muslim rebels set off a bomb near a military convoy trailed by television journalists but nobody was hurt.
It was the second time in three days that journalists were endangered by bombings in the restive south while covering a weeklong offensive by Philippine troops against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement. The guerrilla group is opposed to a new peace deal between the government and the main Muslim rebel group.
Regional military spokesman Col. Dickson Hermoso says the bomb went off Tuesday as the army convoy followed by media vans was passing by in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province.
A bomb also believed to have been set off by the Moro rebels wounded 12 people, including two television journalists, on Saturday in Maguindanao.
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