Several killed as explosion rips through Philippines airport

Several people were killed today when a powerful explosion ripped through the waiting area of an airport in the southern Philippines.

Authorities at Davao airport on the southern island of Mindanao reported many people injured and killed, but could not provide exact figures.

An airport security official said the blast rocked the front of the terminal.

“It happened a few minutes after a Cebu Pacific flight arrived and people packed the waiting area,” he said.

“There were many people killed. I saw six persons killed on the spot.”

Davao City, about 600 miles south of the capital Manila, is the largest on Mindanao, where government forces are fighting Muslim separatist rebels.

But there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The military have blamed Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels for a string of recent attacks, including a car bombing at Cotabato airport.

The rebel operations followed a government offensive that led to the capture of a guerilla stronghold on the island last month.

The rebels have been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the impoverished southern Philippines for three decades. Despite a 1997 shaky ceasefire, fighting has occasionally flared up.