Manila, Jul 31 (IANS): A powerful car bomb exploded in the Philippines island of Basilan early on Tuesday. The death toll has reached 10, according to military sources.
Earlier the military had put the number of deaths at six in the attack that took place at 5.50 a.m. when a white van was detonated at a military checkpoint in Colonia village in Lamitan City, Xinhua news agency reported.
There is a soldier, five militia men and four civilians who have died in the attack that appears to have been caused after a vehicle was rigged in the southern island of the country.
A few others also sustained injuries in the attack that the military said might be linked to the Abu Sayyaf group believed to have ties with the Islamic State (IS).