CAGAYAN DE ORO PHILIPPINES Reuter: At Least 10 people were killed and 90 wounded when Moslem rebels lobbed a grenade into a crowded church during a wedding in the Southern Philippines a military officer said.
Colonel Raul Aquino said six people including a five year old child were killed instantly in the explosion in the town of Salvador on Mindanao Island. Four more wedding guests died on the way to the hospital.
Aquino who heads an infantry unit in the area said five men belonging to a faction of the Moslem Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) were responsible for the grenade attack.
He said that just before the attack two rebel leaders were killed in an exchange of fire with
Aquino could not give a motive for the attack on the wedding. But he said a group of 50 guerrillas was believed to be preparing for another attack to avenge the death of their leaders.
He said the rebels belonged to a MNLF faction which was not invited to peace talks between President Corazon Aquino and MNLF Chief Nur Misuari on Saturday.
Aquino and Misari who returned early last week from Iong exile in the Middle East met on the Island of Jolo to discuss ways of ending the 14yearold secessionist war in Mindanao
According to a local radio station the church CKED with about 400 people and the grenade was thrown just as the priest had solemnized the wedding.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 12, 1986
