Grenade blast injures 8 in Cotabato

COTABATO CITY (Updated) – A grenade exploded in front of a grocery store along Figueroa St. around 11:30 a.m. Monday, wounding a police officer and seven others, including an 11-year-old boy.

Cotabato City Police Director Willie Dangane said no one has claimed responsibility for Monday's explosion in front of the Co Tiong Bon Grocery Store. It is not clear if these establishments were targeted.

Sam Mundas, a close aide of City Mayor Muslimin Sema, said ambulances of the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center here immediately whisked blast victims away.

Cotabato, on the main southern island of Mindanao, is often hit by bombing attacks blamed on Muslim rebels and criminal gangs demanding extortion money from shop owners and transportation companies.