MANILA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - A crude bomb went off at a public market while another was defused near a hospital in two southern Philippine cities on Monday, as the military chief warned of more bombings after Manila broke off talks with Muslim rebels. No was hurt when an improvised explosive went off in a public market in Isulan town. The second bomb was accidentally discovered inside a shopping bag in nearby Tacurong City before it could explode, an army spokesman said. Both were Catholic-dominated areas on the southern island of Mindanao and potential targets of the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). "Our investigators believed it was supposed to go off at the same time as the second bomb because the two explosive devices were almost identical," Major Armand Rico told reporters. "They were made from 81mm mortar rounds and remotely detonated by a cellphone." Military chief General Alexander Yano warned of more bombings in Catholic-dominated areas in Mindanao even as fighting between troops and MILF rebels subsided since Ramadan started last week. "We anticipate that they might resort to terrorist acts," Yano told reporters in Manila, adding the MILF rebels had broken into smaller groups to avoid head-on confrontations. More than 200 people, including 21 soldiers, have been killed in fighting last month between troops and renegade members of the MILF blamed for attacking Christian-majority southern towns after a peace deal with the government fell apart. The government has been in on-off talks with the MILF since 1997 to end a rebellion that has killed 120,000 people and stunted growth in an impoverished region believed to be sitting on huge deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas. About half a million people had been displaced by fighting as troops dropped bombs and shelled rebel positions since Aug. 18. On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) asked for more donations so it could continue providing food to around 70,000 people at refugee camps on Mindanao, adding there could be more uncertainty after the end of Ramadan. Dominik Stillhart, ICRC deputy director for operations, said the group may need $4-5 million after spending an initial $7 million to respond to an alarming humanitarian problem. "We intend to provide assistance and protection for up to 325,000 people between now and the end of the year," Stillhart told foreign correspondents after a three-day visit to the south. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Rosemarie Francisco)
Philippine Army soldiers carry boxes of ammunitions as they board a military plane bound for Mindanao, southern Philippines during a deployment at Villamor airbase in Manila August 10, 2008. Around 17,000 ...
