The bus with an unspecified variety of passengers was approaching a transport terminal in Tacurong metropolis in Sultan Kudarat province when the bomb went off behind the car shortly earlier than midday, police mentioned.
Investigators had been making an attempt to find out if the attackers had been from the identical armed group that had staged related bombings in previous years to extort cash from the Yellow Bus Line, which operates in key southern cities, navy and police officers mentioned.
Regional military commander Main Common Roy Galido mentioned the bus firm “has been continually receiving extortion messages.” The navy and police have been working with the bus homeowners to seize the extortionists, who could have been angered by the bus firm’s refusal to repay, Galido mentioned.
Police have blamed the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a small insurgent pressure that has aligned itself with the Islamic State group, for related bus bombings prior to now.
The group broke off years in the past from the Moro Islamic Liberation Entrance when the latter entered into peace talks with the federal government and embraced a proposal of Muslim autonomy in a five-province area within the south of the largely Roman Catholic nation.