Three children were killed in the southern Philippines when a mortar accidentally exploded while they were playing with it, a military report said Wednesday, dpa reported.
Five more children were wounded in the explosion that occurred late Tuesday in Buldon town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, the report added.
The children were playing with an 81-millimetre mortar, which accidentally exploded inside a rice mill building.
The mortar had been recovered earlier by the father of one of the victims, the military report said.
The town of Buldon, which used to be a stronghold of Muslim rebels, was the site of fierce clashes between government forces and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2000.