Cotabato City, Philippines  - Seven people were wounded Monday in a grenade explosion in the southern Philippines, a city police chief said.

The explosion occurred in the house of Kentia Sampulna, a suspected illegal drug trader, in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane said.

Dangane said Sampulna had just arrived at his house when he heard a hard object thrown on the roof, followed by an explosion. Sampulna was not hurt.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Annie Ali checked herself in the mirror, adjusted her veil and smiled before she started calling customers in the United States from a troubled southern Philippine city to offer them refills for their prescription drugs.

It was almost midnight and work had just begun for the 23-year-old former nursing student in the first and only call centre in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - A soldier shot dead his sergeant and a fellow soldier in the southern Philippines after he was scolded for being drunk, a military spokesman said Monday.

A third soldier was wounded in the shooting late Sunday inside an army outpost in Barira town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Colonel Jonathan Ponce, a spokesman for the army's 6th Infantry Division, said army Corporal Jefferson Brillo escaped after the incident.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Three civilians, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed Friday in an attack by communist rebels in the southern Philippines, police said.

The victims were riding a truck owned by a logging company when guerrillas opened fire at the vehicle in Lanuza town in Surigao del Sur province, 825 kilometres south of Manila.

Senior Inspector Reynaldo Salubre, the town police chief, said a fourth civilian was injured in the attack.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Philippine police said Thursday that they have arrested five suspected Muslim militants involved in bombings of business establishments and bus firms in the south.

The suspects were arrested Wednesday in a raid on their hideout in Tantangan town in South Cotabato province, 990 kilometres south of Manila.

Senior Superintendent Nilo Wong, a provincial police director, said the raid was conducted after months of surveillance on the suspects.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - A suspected Islamic militant allegedly involved in arson and terrorist attacks was arrested in the southern Philippines, police said Saturday.

Smawtin Basilan was arrested Wednesday at his home in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, according to regional police chief Chief Superintendent Bensali Jarabani.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - A soldier began firing inside an army camp in the southern Philippines, killing two of his comrades, an army spokesman said Saturday.

Five other soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and a major, received gunshot wounds in the incident, which occurred late Friday inside the army headquarters in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Philippine police have arrested a suspected Muslim militant linked with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network, an official said Tuesday.

The suspect, Hazzer Zaidali, 40, was arrested on Monday in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Senior Superintendent Willy Dangane said.

Dangane, the city police chief, said Zaidali has a 10,000-dollar bounty on his head and was believed to have been involved in previous bomb attacks in the southern region of Mindanao.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - A farmer was killed Thursday in the southern Philippines when a hand grenade in his trouser pocket accidentally exploded, police said.

Twenty people were injured in the accident in Carmen town in North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, police Inspector Winston Seniel said.

Seniel said the victims were preparing food for a wedding to be held later in the day when the explosion occurred.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - A suspected Muslim militant was killed by two unidentified gunmen while walking to a mosque in a southern Philippine city, a police official said Tuesday.

Sammer Bansil, 42, died on the spot after suffering gunshot wounds to the head and chest late Monday in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Superintendent Willy Dangane said.

The gunmen fled on a motorcycle, the officer said.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - A militiaman was killed Monday and eight more were injured in two separate explosions in the southern Philippines, military and police officials said.

The first blast was caused by a homemade bomb planted outside an army encampment in North Upi town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, said Major Randolph Cabangbang, a regional army spokesman.

Cabangbang said militiaman Erol Roberts was killed in the explosion, which occurred while he was inspecting the bag where the bomb was placed.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Two Muslim secessionist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said the fighting erupted Wednesday when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas attacked an army encampment in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Ponce said the soldiers repulsed the guerrillas with mortar fire, killing two of them in the ensuing firefight.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - A man was killed Monday and 15 more wounded when a homemade bomb exploded in a southern Philippine town, a regional military spokesman said.

Major Randolph Cabangbang said the explosion occurred at dawn at a busy market in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Investigators said the bomb exploded prematurely killing its courier. Police were still determining the motive behind the attack.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - At least 10 Muslim secessionist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said 22 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and two soldiers were also wounded in the fighting late Sunday in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Ponce said hundreds of residents in the area have fled their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

Cotabato City, Philippines - Ten Muslim rebels were killed in separate clashes with government troops in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said at least 20 other Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were wounded Friday in separate gunbattles in Talayan and Guindulungan towns in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Ponce said there were no casualties on the government side in both clashes.

Cotabato City, Philippines - Police arrested on Thursday a Muslim militant allegedly involved in at least two deadly bomb attacks in the Philippines, a regional police spokesman said.

Superintendent Danilo Bacas said Ansar Bernardino Venancio, a Filipino member of the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group, was arrested at dawn in Marawi City, 825 kilometres south of Manila.

Cotabato City, Philippines - A government soldier was killed Tuesday in a landmine attack by Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said.

Two soldiers were also hurt in the landmine explosion in Talayan town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Major Randolph Cabangbang said.

Cabangbang said the soldiers were on their way back to their headquarters from a re-supply mission when a landmine exploded along the road, hitting the military truck they were riding in.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - At least 11 Muslim rebels were killed in the latest clashes between government troops and the guerrillas in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said troops also seized two Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps during Sunday's fighting in Guindulungan and Talayan towns in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Four people were killed in a clash between two warring Muslim rebel factions in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Friday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said the fighting erupted Thursday when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Jing Caludtiag and his men attacked the camp of MILF commander Randy Karon in Lebak town in Sultan Kudarat province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

Ponce said three followers of Caludtiag died in the 45-minute gunfight, while one of Karon's men was killed.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - One man was killed while three were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded in a beach resort in the southern Philippines, a regional military spokesman said Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said the explosion occurred late Sunday in the Besana Beach Resort in Lebak town in Sultan Kudarat province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

Ponce said the bomb, made from a 60-millemetre mortar, exploded in an empty cottage adjacent to the cottage occupied by the victims.