Bomb in PhilippinesTargets Church: 5 dead

'Let us all pray for the conversion of the bombers. Violence does not lead anywhere.' Archbishop Quevedo

MANILA (AsiaNews) - Five people were killed and 45 people were wounded in a bomb explosion outside a church this morning in Cotabato on the island of Mindanao in the Southern Philippines. The toll is provisional. The army suspects the attack to be the work of the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but some of their leaders deny any responsibility.

The bomb, placed near a food warehouse outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, detonated as Archbishop Orlando Quevedo led Sunday celebrations. Among the dead, an itinerant street vendor, a female security guard who was watching the entrance of the church and a child of three years.

Archbishop Quevedo has refused to make suppositions. He has limited himself to describing the attack as "not only a crime, but a sacrilege. Let us all pray for the conversion of the bombers. Violence does not lead anywhere. "

Army officials have pointed the finger at MILF, a group that for years has been fighting for independence in Mindanao, but which in recent years had decided to open a process of dialogue with the government. Some of the MILF leaders have denied any involvement in the attack.

According to some experts, the "strategy of tension" is not only used by MILF - to raise the posts in its negotiations with the government - but also by the army to ensure it receives money each year to combat the guerrillas.