Grenade blasts kill 1, wound 31 others in Philippines, police say

Grenade blasts kill 1, wound 31 in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Unidentified men hurled two grenades near a crowded town plaza where a beauty contest was being held in the southern Philippines, killing at least one person and wounding 31 others, police said Sunday.

The attack happened late Saturday in Maasim, Sarangani province, about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Manila, police chief Abraham Madrid said.

More than 100 policemen and army troops from nearby regions will be deployed to secure Maasim township, which will celebrate a religious festival Sunday, officials said.

Madrid told The Associated Press that investigators were trying to determine if Muslim guerrillas suspected in a bombing last August that killed two people in the predominantly Christian town of more than 30,000 were behind Saturday’s attack.

He said two men hurled one grenade each: one at a group of men who were playing a card game at a table, the second at another group of men at a karaoke bar, near the Maasim town plaza, where a beauty contest was being held. At least one person was killed and 31 wounded. The injured were being treated in two hospitals.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas last year attacked several predominantly Christian town in the region to protest a failed autonomy deal with the government. The rebel attacks led to the collapse of Malaysian-brokered peace talks and prompted a major military offensive.

The 11,500-strong rebel front has been fighting for decades for self-rule by minority Muslims in the country’s south.