anila  - Suspected Muslim militants exploded a bomb on Sunday near an airport on a southern Philippine island, injuring two army engineers, a military official said.

The explosion occurred on a service road at the end of the airport in Jolo town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, Major General Benjamin Dolorfino said.

"Two army engineers aboard a motorcycle who passed by were injured," he said. "They sustained shrapnel wounds on the back. They were on their way to the mosque to pray."

Dolorfino said al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels were suspected to be behind the bombing.

"They are usually the ones involved in bombings," he said.

Jolo is a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf rebels, who have been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines.

The guerrillas are also behind high-profile kidnapping-for-ransom cases involving foreigners in the country.

On August 27, a suspected Abu Sayyaf member was deported to the United States to face trial for the kidnapping of four Americans in 1995 in South Cotabato province.  dpa