2 improvised bombs found in S. Philippines

Two improvised explosive devices have been recovered on Wednesday by government troops near the site of the massacre of 58 people in southern Philippines, the military said.The makeshift bombs were found as soldiers were securing the site of the worst mass political killing in Ampatuan town, in Mindanao's Maguindanao province in a one-hour span, according to Colonel Leopoldo Galon, spokesperson of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command.In a text message to Xinhua, Colonel Galon said the IEDs were found by army and police bomb squads along the national highway at Sitio (community) Masalay, Salman village.The first bomb, fashioned from a live 81-mm high explosive mortar round and fitted with blasting caps and batteries was recovered around 6:35 a.m., while the second bomb, a live round of 105-mm howitzer cannon, was found around 7:30 a.m. near Camp Imam Malang of the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front, Galon said."The second bomb was also potentially powerful, complete with two blasting caps and a 9-volt battery (as power source)," said Galon, adding troops from the army's 6th Infantry Division and police are still conducting clearing and paneling operations in the area.Galon said an explosion also rocked an area just a few kilometers from the site but did not cause casualties.The discovery of the explosives also came on the very day of the 2nd anniversary of the now infamous Ampatuan massacre, in which 58 people, among them over 30 journalists, were kidnapped, tortured and killed by about 100 gunmen loyal to the Ampatuan clan.Galon said troops are tightening security at the site, even as victims' families, relatives and journalists are trooping to the now sacred site to remember the victims of the worst political killing in Philippine history.