KIDAPAWAN, Philippines: Philippine police say a powerful bomb has been defused outside the main police station in a southern city that has come under attack from Muslim rebels in the past.

Investigator Ryan Batilo says the bomb, consisting of two 60mm mortar rounds wired to a battery and a cellphone, was found and disarmed by police Sunday near the gate of the police station in North Cotabato province's capital city of Kidapawan.

Batilo says police closed a main road as ordnance experts defused the bomb, which was wrapped in used clothes. The site is near the city jail, which has come under attack from Muslim militants attempting to free their detained comrades.

Police said last month that they had received intelligence of possible bombing plots by Muslim militants in some southern cities.