ZAMBOANGA CITY, 11 January 2007 — At least seven people were killed and 29 others wounded as three bomb blasts rocked the southern Philippines within hours of each other yesterday, police and military said, amid warnings that Muslim militants may try to disrupt twin Asian regional summits this weekend. The first explosion ripped apart a lottery outlet across the public market in General Santos City, said city police chief Senior Superintendent Alfredo Toroctocon. Among the six dead were two boys aged 8 and 12, local hospital staff said.

The city is about 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Cebu, where leaders from across East Asia are gathering for the weekend summits.

Chief Superintendent German Doria, the regional police chief, said police had no immediate suspects but Al-Qaeda-linked groups — the regional militant network Jemaah Islamiyah and its ally, the local Abu Sayyaf group — “usually are the ones doing all these explosions in the region.”

The second explosion occurred about 2-1/2 hours later in Kidapawan City in Cotabato province, said provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Federico Dulay. Senior police officer Pascual Peroy said an improvised bomb placed near the perimeter fence of a police outpost along the city’s national highway went off just after duty officers left on patrol. Two passers-by were wounded, Peroy said.

The third explosion rocked Cotabato City, about 170 kilometers (106 miles) northwest of General Santos, near a dumpsite along a major road, killing a garbage collector and wounding five others, said city police spokesman Senior Inspector Samson Obatay.

He said the explosion appeared to be from an improvised bomb, although it could also have been a grenade.

He said police suspect the blast was the handiwork of terrorists and linked to the two earlier blasts. All three cities have been hit by terror bombings blamed on the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiyah in the past. Philippine National Police chief Oscar Calderon said earlier that militants may try to embarrass the government, a staunch US ally in the war on terror, by staging attacks during the summits.

— With input from agencies