COTABATO (Philippines) - BOMBS ripped through a cafe in the southern Philippines early on Monday, killing three people and wounding 15, witnesses said.

The three dead included a man seen placing one of the devices inside a garbage bin at a coffee shop near the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan on Mindanao island, one witness said, quoting local police.

'Military bomb experts told me that two bombs simultaneously exploded and they are still looking for the third explosive,' said Eduardo Vasquez, a Roman Catholic priest who witnessed the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, which occurred in a region troubled by a long-running Muslim separatist insurgency.

Eid Kabalua, spokesman for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, denied the guerrillas were responsible.

'Villagers saw soldiers arrive in the area at dawn and there was an explosion several hours later,' he told reporters by telephone.

There was no immediate reaction from the military. -- AFP