Military and police ordnance experts disarmed the bomb where the children had found it at a large empty lot in central Iligan that was being used as an open garbage dump, said Iligan police chief Celso Regencia.

He said the device included a mortar shell that was half concealed inside a large papaya fruit. The bomb squad said the mortar was different from the type issued to the armed forces.

Iligan was rocked by two near-simultaneous bombings in shopping malls on Thursday that claimed two lives and injured 53 others.

The authorities blamed the attacks on Muslim separatists. -- AFP