Manila, Philippines - A grenade explosion Sunday rocked a Catholic church in the southern Philippines, but no one was hurt in the pre-dawn attack, police said. The blast occurred before the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, was opened.
Senior Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, a regional police commander, said the unidentified suspects lobbed the grenade inside the compound of the church.
"There were no casualties involved and the explosion only damaged the glass windows of the church," he said.
Jolo is a stronghold of al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels who have in the past bombed the cathedral.
The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines, as well as high-profile kidnappings of foreigners for ransom.