An improvised explosive was detonated late Tuesday near the house of a city mayor in Basilan province in the southern Philippines, reports said. Reports said the bomb went off several meters from the house of Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay.No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the blast, but Basilan is a known hotbed of the Abu Sayyaf. It was not known at once ifthere had been any casualties in the blast, but some reports from Basilan said one person was hit by a shrapnel. Security officials did not say what kind of explosive was used in the attack or whether the mayor was the target.
