10 killed in Philippines grenade attack

A man who tossed a grenade into a roadside stall selling firecrackers in the southern Philippines, killing at least 10 New Year's revellers and injuring 32 others.

A 14-year-old boy was among those killed in the city of Tacurong in Sultan Kudarat province on southern Mindanao island, police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said.

Police were searching for a man seen lobbing the grenade, he said, and police artists were compiling a sketch of the suspect.

"We're still ascertaining the motive," he said.

No one has claimed responsibility, but authorities have blamed the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front for a series of bomb attacks and an ambush that have killed 30 people and injured dozens in the southern Philippines in the last two weeks.

The rebels, who have been fighting for three decades for Muslim self-rule in the region, have denied the charge.

Witnesses said about 50 customers were at the stall buying firecrackers when the blast occurred around 9 p.m. (1300 GMT) at the city's busy square. Four people died instantly, including the 14-year-old, army Capt. Onting Alon said.

It was the fifth bombing in central Mindanao since Christmas Eve, when a homemade bomb killed the mayor of Datu Piang town and 16 others. Police said the MILF was behind that attack.

Tacurong is a mainly Christian agricultural city at the heart of Sultan Kudarat, next to Maguindanao province, where the MILF has many bases.

The city has had many grenade attacks in the past, blamed on MILF members from the provincial rural interior.

Communist New People's Army rebels also have a presence in Tacurong, but they are not known to have staged attacks similar to Tuesday's.

The military and the MILF rebels have accused each other of violating a shaky 1997 truce. Peace negotiations between the MILF and government were suspended in October 2001, but are expected to resume later this month in Malaysia.

Bataoil said the attack came following of a crackdown on illegal firearms and firecrackers in the province, where weapons abound.

Two separate New Year's Eve grenade attacks on the island, believed to be the result of a personal grudge, killed a 2-year-old girl and injured her parents, Bataoil said.