Three people were severely inured as a homemade bomb exploded in a commercial district in a southern Philippine city on Christmas Eve.

The bomb was detonated Monday shortly after lunch near a crowded plaza and a fast-food chain in the commercial district of Cotabato City, 960 kilometers south of Manila.

City police Chief Willie Dangane said the improvised bomb was made from a 60-millimeter mortar. The identity of those responsible for the attack hasn’t been discovered and no one claimed the terrorist attack.

Among those injured in the powerful blast were two adult men and a 2-year-old boy. The explosion shattered the windows of a barber shop, Dangane’s report informed.

The injured were immediately taken to a nearby hospital where the medical staff intervened. The doctors declared their injuries non-life-threatening.

Although the police was on high alert due the increased possibility of a terrorist attack attempt as the predominantly Catholic Philippines prepared for Christmas, the terrorists managed to carry it out.

The Australian embassy in the Philippines urged its citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines because of the high threat of terrorist attack."

"We continue to receive credible reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a range of targets in a variety of locations, including places frequented by foreigners," it added.