ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) - A powerful bomb tore through a food court Sunday, killing at least six people and injuring 53 others while U.S. military officers were in town to discuss helping the government fight Muslim rebels.Philippine authorities blamed the Muslim rebel group Abu Sayyaf, which allegedly has links to Osama bin Laden, for the blast in the restive southern city of Zamboanga.
The Americans were unhurt in the early evening attack, officials said. They were staying at a tightly guarded military camp a few miles from the site of the explosion, said Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, who heads the Philippine military's Southern Command.
The rebels are holding American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., and 10 Filipinos on Basilan. They claim they killed a third American, Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif. The three Americans were kidnapped from a resort in May.
Medical workers said at least 53 people were hospitalized after the blast, which happened about 8 p.m. at the crowded open-air plaza in Zamboanga, on Mindanao island 520 miles south of Manila. Police said a second bomb was found outside and safely detonated.
Police and anti-terrorist troops brought in bomb-sniffing dogs and cordoned off the area, choked by smoke and dust. Officials were checking hospitals in an effort to count casualties. (Read photo caption below)
The U.S. military advisers have been arriving in Zamboanga in small groups since Thursday. On Sunday, they returned there for the night after being flown by helicopter to Basilan, where Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are holding the hostages.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Police bomb disposal units inspect an area where a bomb exploded in southern Zamboanga province on Sunday Oct. 28, 2001. A powerful bomb tore through a food court Sunday, killing at least six people and injuring scores while U.S. military officers were in town to discuss helping the government fight Muslim rebels. (AP Photo/AJ)