MANILA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Suspected Muslim rebels detonated a crude bomb near an army base on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Friday, wounding three soldiers, officials said.

The blast in Shariff Aguak town came a day after two powerful explosions in a nearby town wounded six people.

"There's no other suspect but the lawless group belonging to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)," Ando told reporters, referring to rogue members of the country's largest Muslim rebel group in the south of the mainly Catholic country.

The MILF has been in off-on talks with Manila for more than a decade to end 40 years of conflict that has killed 120,000 people and stunted growth in a region rich in oil, gas and mineral resources.

But a renegade faction says the government is not serious about talks, and has carried out a series of attacks.

(Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Rosemarie Francisco and Sanjeev Miglani)

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