COTABATO, Philippines: Suspected Al-Qaida affiliated militants detonated a homemade bomb on Wednesday morning in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, leaving a Philippine marine officer dead and two others wounded, the military said.

Sulu is a known bailiwick of Abu Sayyaf militants.

The group, blacklisted by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization, is considered a major security threat to the Philippines and the region. The group is engaged in kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in the South over the past decade.