ZAMBOANGA, Oct 20: A soldier was killed and at least 17 people were injured when a bomb exploded outside a Roman Catholic shrine in this southern city late on Sunday, in what authorities have described as a “terrorist” attack.

Police have detained a local Muslim man for questioning after the blast, the second such incident here in three days. The bomb went off at the gate of the Fort Pilar shrine during an open-air mass at around 8:00 pm.

“This is the handiwork of terrorists,” said southern Philippines military chief Lieutenant General Narciso Abaya.

A Marine guard on duty at the shrine’s gate was killed and 17 other people, including two other Marines, were injured, hospital officials said. “There was a loud explosion and everybody was screaming,” said shrine devotee Fe Sanctuario, who was unhurt.

“I knew it was a bomb because the explosion was so loud and many stalls selling religious icons were destroyed.”

Military units and police swiftly fanned across the city of 600,000 people to deter more bombings. In steady drizzle, heavily armed soldiers were seen checking abandoned packages at the shrine.

Police sources said soldiers who rushed to the scene of the blast arrested a Muslim man, aged between 40 and 50, after witnesses saw him drive a pedicab into the gate and leave the vehicle shortly before the explosion. The suspect was later turned over to the police, they said.—AFP