Blast kills 4, wounds 11 in southern Philippines

MANILA (Reuters) - At least four men were killed and 11 others wounded when a grenade exploded on Thursday at a bakery in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said, blaming Maoist-led rebels for the attack.

Hours later, another group of communist New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas raided a town hall in a nearby province on the troubled southern island of Mindanao, wounding a police officer, and carted away three assault rifles and a handgun.

Major Armand Rico said two men and a woman on a motorcycle lobbed a grenade into the bakery in Nabunturan town at dawn on Thursday, killing three people on the spot.

"A dozen people were rushed to a nearby hospital, but one died while being treated," Rico said, adding NPA rebels were behind the attack.

"We believed the grenade attack was a punitive action for the failure of the business establishment to pay revolutionary taxes to the rebels."

Rico said several traders in Nabunturan, a mining town on Mindanao, have been getting extortion letters from the NPA, threatening to blow up their businesses if they ignored the demand.

In nearby Banay-banay town in Davao Oriental province, about 50 rebels on board two dump trucks raided the town hall, engaging a handful of police officers on duty in a fight.

"The rebels came pretending to apply for a rally permit, but disarmed some of the police officers guarding the town hall," Rico told reporters, adding soldiers were rushed to the area to reinforce some officers who put up a fight.

Rico said one police officer was wounded during a 30-minute firefight. The rebels took control of the town hall for a few minutes before fleeing with the guns and office equipment.