At Least 4 People Wounded in Explosion on The Philippines' Mindanao - Reports

BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th September, 2019) At least four people have sustained injuries in a blast of an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Philippines' Sultan Kudarat province on the southern Mindanao island early on Saturday, local media reported citing police.

According to the PNA news agency, citing Lt. Col. Junie Buenacosa, the police chief of the provincial capital of Insulan, an unidentified perpetrator set off the device outside a market in the city.

"The suspected IED was placed at a terminal for motorcycles in front of the public market," Buenacosa said, as quoted by the outlet.

The police chief added that a traffic police officer was among those injured by the explosion. He was hospitalized.

Mindanao is home to a large portion of the Philippines' Muslim population.

Insulan has repeatedly been targeted by bombings over recent years. In 2018, two explosions killed five people and wounded 45 others. Moreover, in April, another blast targeted the same highway, where the market hit on Saturday is located, according to PNA.

The agency noted that a militant group linked to the Islamic State terrorist organization (banned in Russia) had been blamed for the April bombing.