Cotabato City, Philippines - A suspected bomb courier was killed and a police officer was wounded when a homemade bomb exploded near a police outpost in the southern Philippines, the military said Wednesday.

The bomb, planted in a tricycle loaded with charcoal, exploded as police officers inspected the vehicle at a checkpoint in Esperanza town in Sultan Kudarat province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, on Tuesday evening.

Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando, a local army spokesman, said the driver of the tricycle, who was believed to be the bomb courier, was killed on the spot by in the explosion while one police officer was wounded.

The blast came amid tightened security in the southern Philippines following bomb attacks blamed on Muslim separatist rebels who have become impatient with protracted peace talks with the government.

Army Colonel Marlou Salazar said the guerillas were also suspected to be behind the latest bombing.

"We are looking into the possible involvement of Muslim separatist rebels in the latest blast," he said.

Earlier this month, three people were killed and more than 40 were wounded when homemade bombs ripped through two department stores in nearby Iligan City. The military blamed the bombings on Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas.

The MILF, the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the southern Philippines, has denied the allegations.

Peace talks between the MILF and the government have been suspended since August, but efforts are underway to resume the negotiations.

The talks were suspended when the rebels launched a series of deadly attacks in the southern Philippines to protest a Supreme Court ruling to stop the signing of a key agreement that would have expanded a Muslim autonomous region. (dpa)