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Cotabato bombing kills 6 in Philippines

By GABRIELLE LEVY, UPI.com
Six people were killed when a bomb went off in Cotabato City, Philippines August 5, 2013. (Twitter/AKSYON)
1 of 2 | Six people were killed when a bomb went off in Cotabato City, Philippines August 5, 2013. (Twitter/AKSYON)

A car bomb exploded on a busy street during rush hour in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines Monday, killing six people and injuring 29.

The blast was the latest in a decades-long conflict between the government and Islamist rebels on Mindanao island, and the second in just two weeks: Eight people were killed in Cagayan de Oro on July 26.

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Monday's bomb was detonated when the car carrying city administrator Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi passed a parked car holding the explosives.

Sayadi had received threats over recent days, but it was unclear if she was the target of the attack. She was not hurt in the blast, but a bodyguard in another vehicle and several police were among the dead.

“We condemn the use of violence to kill and maim our countrymen who are peacefully going about their daily lives," Philippines President Benigno Aquino III said, vowing to hunt down those responsible. "We’ll hold accountable these criminals who terrorize our society."

The governor of Mindanao's Muslim provinces, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said it was too early to determine if the two bombings were connected.

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