MANILA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Two children, aged two and five, were killed and three others wounded by a home-made bomb that went off Monday morning on the southern Philippine island of Basilan, an army spokesman said.
Lt. Col. Franco Raphael Alano said in a statement that the three wounded were two children, both aged four, and a 25-year-old woman. The four children were reportedly playing when the bomb exploded.
Alano said the bomb was planted in a trail frequently used by villagers in Al-Barka, a town in Basilan.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast but the military blamed the incident on the Abu Sayyaf militants that operate on the island province.
The military said that two children were also killed in December last year when a home-made bomb also exploded in Piyang village, also in Al-Barka.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military to crush the Abu Sayyaf before June this year.
Abu Sayyaf is the most radical Islamist group in the Philippines that carries out kidnappings for ransom, executions and bombings in the southern Philippines.
The military said there are about 400 Abu Sayyaf criminals operating in the province of Sulu and nearby Basilan.
The Philippines has been fighting the Abu Sayyaf militants since 2002.
Duterte and his defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana claimed that the violent group has linked up with the Islamic terrorists that plan to carve out a caliphate in the southern Philippines, home to the country's Filipino Muslims.
