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| A view shows a restaurant after it was hit by a suicide bomb attack near Kirkuk. | ||
A bomb exploded late Friday in front of a popular fast-food restaurant on a southern Philippine island that is a stronghold of al-Qaida-linked militants, killing at least two people and wounding eight others, officials said.
The homemade bomb may have hit a power line, cutting off power in the area, military spokeswoman Lt. Stephani Cacho said. The explosion was under investigation and authorities have no suspects yet, she said.
A Marine battalion and a bomb squad secured the area in Isabela, the capital of Basilan island, she said.
The bomb exploded outside a Jollibee restaurant near Plaza Rizal, a public square frequented by residents in the evening, killing a man and a woman, said Al Rasheed Sakkalahul, Basilan's vice governor.
Basilan is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf militant group, which has about 400 members and is on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations for involvement in kidnappings, bombings and beheadings.
On Thursday, the group freed Filipino Red Cross worker Mary Jean Lacaba after 10 weeks of captivity on the nearby island of Jolo, but it continues to hold two other hostages from the Red Cross — Italian Eugenio Vagni and Andreas Notter from Switzerland.
In December, a grenade blast suspected to be the handiwork of Abu Sayyaf militants wounded 16 people watching an open-air concert near the same spot as Friday's blast.
Philippine military and police officials say the Abu Sayyaf has received training and funds from al-Qaida militants in the past.
(AP)