Army explosives experts disarmed a powerful homemade bomb Saturday in a southern Philippine city that has been a target of attacks blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants and extortion gangs.The bomb, rigged from an 81 mm mortar shell, was found hidden in a cigarette carton outside an auto repair shop at dawn Saturday in Cotabato city. A security guard from a nearby gasoline station called police to report the suspicious box, said Cotabato police chief Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane.
The improvised explosive device may have been intended for another area but because of heavy police and military presence around the city, the would-be bomber may have abandoned it to avoid detection, Dangane said. Security officials have said such mortar bombs are typically used by the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the Indonesian-based terror network Jemaah Islamiyah.