UK, France and Canada issue alerts

The bombing of the Davao City International Airport on Tuesday has prompted Britain, France and Canada to alert their citizens anew against traveling to the southern Philippines.

In their advisories, the three countries urged their nationals to avoid going anywhere in Mindanao in the wake of the recent spate of violence there.

The British embassy said there is "a greater risk of terrorist activity throughout the Philippines at the present time."

The French embassy, on the other hand, said travel to Mindanao, "in any of its cities and provinces," should be "absolutely avoided." It called the Davao City bomb attack a "grave" terrorist incident.

The Canadian embassy included Davao City on its list of areas in Mindanao that its citizens should avoid.

The three embassies updated their travel advisories a day after the airport bombing in Davao City that killed at least 21 people and wounded over 100 others.

British nationals were advised to "remain vigilant throughout the Philippines for spontaneous crime driven by poverty and for serious crime, including terrorism and kidnapping by organized gangs or extremists."

The French embassy advised its citizens in the country to avoid Mindanao altogether, especially after the Davao City bomb attack. It also mentioned the skirmishes between government troops and Muslim extremists as one of the sources of security threats in the southern Philippines.

The Canadian embassy advised its nationals not to go to the Sulu archipelago, which covers Basilan, Jolo and Tawi-Tawi. Also on the Canadian list of places not to visit are Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Iligan City and the municipalities of Palembang, General Santos City, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga City and Zamboanga del Norte.