Wounded in Philippine bus bombing rises to 17

MANILA, Mar 29 (Reuters) A crude bomb exploded today inside a bus in Digos City in the southern Philippines, wounding 17 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 a.m.

(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 on Tuesday to step up attacks on government targets outside the capital as the rebels marked their 37th anniversary today.

Passengers and some vendors at the terminal were injured in the bus attack, said Ninang Hadjaril, police superintendent of Davao del Sur province. He said another parked bus at the terminal was also damaged.

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.

REUTERS SY RAI1545