19 killed in Filipino blast

A POWERFUL bomb hidden in a backpack exploded yesterday at an airport in the southern Philippines, killing at least 19 people and wounding 147, authorities said.

The government called it a "brazen act of terrorism." With many of the injured in serious condition, officials feared the death toll could rise.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been blamed for a string of attacks including a car bombing at a nearby airport last month, denied responsibility for the blast at Davao airport on Mindanao island.