Bomb found outside Philippine church

Cotabato City: Police on Saturday found a bomb outside a church in southern Philippines, a police chief said.

Chief inspector Franklin Anito said the improvised bomb was recovered in front of the Iglesia ni Cristo church in Kabacan, north of Cotabato province.

Anito said bomb experts rushed to find the bomb after an alert from passers-by about a suspicious plastic bag left outside the church, and were able to defuse the device.

It was the third homemade bomb recovered in Kabacan since Monday, Anito said.

Kabacan is the scene of fierce fighting between the Moro Islamic liberation Front rebels and government troops.

The clashes intensified in August after the Supreme Court stopped a deal that would have expanded the existing Autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao.