Bombs rock Philippines after death of militants

No one was hurt in the explosions, which came as security was heightened in the troubled south following the police assault on Jolo island Sunday.

“We are establishing the motives. We have alerted our troops,” regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang said after the blasts.

A bomb ripped through a house in the town of Sultan Kudarat before dawn on Monday, while another explosion went off outside a hotel in Cotabato City late Sunday, police said.

Both areas are far from Jolo, although the militants are also known to operate there.

It was not immediately clear if the explosions were related to Sunday's offensive, although police and military had earlier warned of retaliatory attacks from the Abu Sayyaf.

Police commandos killed three Abu Sayyaf members Sunday, including Gafur Jumdail, brother of Abu Jumdail, one of the group's top operatives.

The Abu Sayyaf is a small gang of Islamic militants blamed for the country's worst terrorist attacks, including a ferry bombing that left over 100 dead in Manila Bay in 2004.

Intelligence services say it was started partly with funding from the al-Qaida network of Osama bin Laden.

The group is on the U.S. government's list of wanted foreign terrorist organizations. Two Americans seized with a group of tourists in 2002 were killed in captivity.

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