Bomb found in southern Philippine city
Police safely defused a powerful bomb that may have been intended to be set off in a Roman Catholic cathedral in a southern Philippine city where suspected Muslim militants killed two people in bombings last week.
About 100 policemen will be deployed this week to bolster the security of Iligan city amid a security scare that has dampened the usually vibrant Christmas holiday season in the industrial hub of more than 300,000 people, Iligan Mayor Lawrence Cruz said.
“This is a crisis situation,” M Cruz said. “We should be at the height of the Christmas rush now but it feels gloomy.”
A bomb fashioned from an 81 mm mortar round and concealed in a papaya fruit was found by scavengers in a vacant lot near a Roman Catholic cathedral in Iligan.
Police and army ordnance teams safely defused the bomb, Mr Cruz said.
