<p>Military officials would not immediately name any suspects in the blast on Jolo island but the island is a known bastion of the Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to the Al-Qaeda network.<br /><br />"The explosion occurred at around 7:15 in the morning while the mass was going on. Six people were slightly wounded in the explosion," military spokesman Lieutenant Randolph Cabangbang said.<br /><br />Among those wounded was the priest officiating the mass, he added.<br />Police investigators were searching the site for clues as to who might be responsible, he said.<br /><br />The Abu Sayyaf, a gang of self-styled Islamic militants founded in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's network, has long used the mostly-Muslim island of Jolo as a base, carrying out kidnappings and bombings.</p>.<p>It is believed to have carried out the worst terror attacks in Philippine history including the bombing of a passenger ferry in Manila Bay that killed more than 100 people in 2004.<br />It has also kidnapped many foreigners and Filipino Christians, hiding them in the jungles of Jolo and other southern islands.<br /><br />US forces have been deployed in the southern Philippines since 2002 to train local troops in hunting down the Abu Sayyaf.<br /><br />A roadside bomb believed planted by the Abu Sayyaf killed two US soldiers on Jolo in September last year. </p>
<p>Military officials would not immediately name any suspects in the blast on Jolo island but the island is a known bastion of the Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to the Al-Qaeda network.<br /><br />"The explosion occurred at around 7:15 in the morning while the mass was going on. Six people were slightly wounded in the explosion," military spokesman Lieutenant Randolph Cabangbang said.<br /><br />Among those wounded was the priest officiating the mass, he added.<br />Police investigators were searching the site for clues as to who might be responsible, he said.<br /><br />The Abu Sayyaf, a gang of self-styled Islamic militants founded in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's network, has long used the mostly-Muslim island of Jolo as a base, carrying out kidnappings and bombings.</p>.<p>It is believed to have carried out the worst terror attacks in Philippine history including the bombing of a passenger ferry in Manila Bay that killed more than 100 people in 2004.<br />It has also kidnapped many foreigners and Filipino Christians, hiding them in the jungles of Jolo and other southern islands.<br /><br />US forces have been deployed in the southern Philippines since 2002 to train local troops in hunting down the Abu Sayyaf.<br /><br />A roadside bomb believed planted by the Abu Sayyaf killed two US soldiers on Jolo in September last year. </p>