KIDAPAWAN, Philippines: A Philippine mayor says a bomb exploded in a billiard hall near a crowded town carnival in the south, killing two people and wounding 23.
Mayor Joselito Pinol says two men left the bomb, which was apparently concealed in a bag, at the billiard hall late Sunday in his town of Mlang in North Corabato province. The two men left on board a motorcycle before the blast.
Pinol says bomb shrapnel and flying debris hit people in the billiard hall and in a nearby carnival. The blast damaged the billiard hall.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. Government troops have been on alert for possible attacks in the region by a Muslim rebel faction opposed to a new peace deal between the government and a larger Muslim insurgent group. -AP