Bomb explodes in southern Philippines, 7 wounded

MANILA, Mar 29 (Reuters) A crude bombexploded today inside a bus in Digos City in the southern Philippines, wounding seven people, police said.

Security officials were investigating whether the communist guerrilla group, the New People's Army (NPA), had planted the improvised explosive device, which went off around 11:30 hrs (0900 hrs IST) after the bus stopped at a terminal.

''We are investigating if the NPA is behind this since it's their anniversary,'' provincial police officer Reggiette Tecson told Reuters.

The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, vowed yesterday to step up attacks on government targets outside the capital as the rebels today marked their 37th anniversary.

The NPA guerrillas have been waging an insurgency since 1969, which has killed more than 40,000 people, deterred investment and slowed development in one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries.

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