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.