By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY
Four people were killed and at least 30 injured in a bomb blast at a market packed with New Year’s Eve shoppers in the southern Philippines Wednesday, officials said.
The explosion in Mlang, North Cotabato province, occurred around 15.55 local time (09.55 GMT), military spokeswoman Major Jo-Ann Petinglay told The Anadolu Agency.
One person was killed on the spot and children were among the wounded taken to hospitals around the province, Petinglay said.
There was no claim of responsibility but Muslim insurgents opposed to a peace deal with the government have been blamed for similar attacks in the past.
Last month a bomb attack on a billiards hall in Mlang killed three.
In a statement, the army's 6th Infantry Division condemned the attack and pledged to help the provincial government apprehend the perpetrators. "We sympathize with the families of the victims," Petinglay said.
North Cotabato is one of the provinces included in the Bangsamoro, an autonomous Muslim political entity agreed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government in a peace deal signed in March.
The province is frequently targeted by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a splinter group opposed to the peace deal.
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