ISIS claim Philippines market blast

The ISIS militant group has claimed responsibility for an explosion at a public market in the southern Philippines that wounded at least seven people early on Saturday. The group issued a statement late on Saturday saying the motorcycle bombing had wounded seven Filipino Christians at a public market. It was the fourth blast in the area in 13 months, according to the Philippine military, which said a militant group operating in the mostly Christian city of Isulan in the province of Sultan Kudarat was among the suspects. The latest blast comes at a time of heightened tensions in the volatile southern Philippines after three incidents in the past year authorities said were suicide bombings by militants linked to ISIS. Video footage showed Saturday's blast occurred in a parking space for motorcycles. A suspected improvised explosive device was placed beside a parked motorcycle, Major Arvin Encinas, a regional military spokesman, told reporters. In April, a bombing by suspected members of a pro-ISIS militant group injured at least 18 people in a restaurant in Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao region. Mindanao is troubled by banditry and armed rebellions that keep large parts of the region mired in poverty and instability. Islamist militants operate in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation country and some are known to have links with groups abroad, including Al Qaeda and ISIS.