MANILA, April 29 (Reuters) - Philippine police have detonated a bomb found near a shopping mall on the southern island of Mindanao, officials said on Sunday.

Benjamin delos Santos, chief of police in Tacurong City, said the bomb was made from two 81mm mortar rounds placed inside a plastic container.

"We're still investigating and looking at whether this could be connected to three previous attacks in the region," said delos Santos, adding two men on a motorcycle were seen leaving the area at the time the bomb was discovered.

Since April 18, three crude bombs have exploded in the central Mindanao region, a hotbed of Muslim separatist rebels, killing two people and wounding four.

"Some of the recent attacks in the region could be election related," said Federico Dulay, police chief in the province. But he did not discount the role of Islamic militants.

In January, eight people were killed and dozens wounded when crude bombs exploded in three cities in the region ahead of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meetings on the central island of Cebu.

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks but police suspects include the Abu Sayyaf, a militant group with links to al Qaeda, and rogue elements from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is holding peace talks with the government. Both groups operate in Mindanao.

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