Nine people were killed when a bomb exploded aboard a bus in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, a military spokesman said.

Nine people were killed when a bomb exploded aboard a bus in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, a military spokesman said.

The bus operated by the Rural Transit company was travelling through the town of Maramag in the strife-torn island of Mindanao when the bomb went off, according to media reports.

The blast also injured 17 people.

The explosion was the latest in a series of attacks on the bus company.

Last month a bomb exploded aboard a Rural Transit bus in Mindanao, leaving four people wounded.

Ten people were killed when a bomb exploded aboard a bus operated by the same company on Mindanao in 2010.