Cotabato City, Philippines  - Three people were injured when a bomb exploded in an amusement centre in a southern Philippine city, a regional military spokesman said Thursday.

Colonel Jonathan Ponce said the improvised explosive device went off late Wednesday inside the bathroom of the amusement centre in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Three children were killed in the southern Philippines when a mortar accidentally exploded while they were playing with it, a military report said Wednesday.

Five more children were wounded in the explosion that occurred late Tuesday in Buldon town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, the report added.

The children were playing with an 81-millimetre mortar, which accidentally exploded inside a rice mill building.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Five people were wounded when an improvised bomb exploded in a southern Philippine town, a regional military spokesman said Saturday.

The explosion occurred late Friday in front of a gymnasium in Maitum town in Sarangani province, 990 kilometres south of Manila, Major Randolph Cabangbang said.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Government security forces foiled a bomb attack on a southern Philippine city with the detonation of an improvised explosive planted near a pharmacy, a military commander said Thursday.

Colonel Domingo Gobway said the bomb, fashioned from a 60-millimetre mortar shell attached to a mobile telephone, was discovered late Wednesday along a busy street in Cotabato City, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

Cotabato City, Philippines - Six communist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, a regional military spokesman said Saturday.

Major Randolph Cabangbang said the fighting erupted Friday when soldiers encountered an undetermined number of guerrillas is the outskirts of Tulunan town in North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Cabangbang said among the fatalities was a guerrilla commander identified as Felix Amodia. He said Amodia's body was turned over to the local officials.

Cotabato City, Philippines - Muslim rebels attacked two villages in a southern Philippine province, wounding two civilians, a regional military spokesman said Wednesday.

Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels first attacked Lower Dado village in Alamada town in North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, wounding a 19-year-old woman.

Ando said the rebels were driven back by army troopers stationed in the village.