MANILA - At least two people have been killed and four others wounded in a grenade attack on a mosque in the southern Philippines, say local officials.

The attack in Zamboanga city took place in the early hours of Wednesday, just days after deadly twin blasts at a Roman Catholic cathedral in the island of Jolo and a vote backing wider Muslim self-rule in Mindanao, the country's volatile southernmost region.

"A grenade was lobbed inside a mosque killing two persons and wounding another four," regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana told AFP news agency of the attack in Zamboanga.

In a statement, President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said the attackers are "taunting" the government in its handling of the peace and order situation in Mindanao.

"Terrorism has once again reared its barbaric and ugly head," Panelo said.(FA)