RP provinces put on alert

RP provinces put on alert

MANILA (AP): Police put several provinces in the southern
Philippines on maximum alert on Monday in an attempt to avoid
more violence following a grenade explosion that killed at least
10 people and injured more than 70 others.

Acting national police chief Roberto Lastimoso said no
suspects had been identified in Saturday's explosion on Jolo
island in Sulu province, a Muslim rebel stronghold.

The grenade was thrown near a group of people watching a fire
engulf a grocery store. Gun shots were also heard after the
grenade went off, police said.

Lastimoso said the alert covers provinces where rebels
maintain a strong presence on Mindanao island, the country's
second biggest island.

He said initial reports link the Abu Sayyaf, an extremist
group whose leader was killed in a recent clash, to the attack.