Abu Sayyaf extremists bomb Philippine bridge

Manila: Police say Al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf extremists have bombed and destroyed a bridge used by government forces and villagers in the southern Philippines.

National police spokesman Agrimero Cruz said that nobody was injured in the powerful explosion that brought down the bridge late on Saturday in a village in mountainous Patikul town on Jolo island.

The militants have bombed a number of bridges on Jolo to derail military offensives and government responses to terrorist attacks.

Cruz said on Sunday that the remote-controlled bomb consisted of an unspecified type of explosives attached to a wrist watch.