Indonesia seeks confirmation over Philippine cathedral suicide attack

Philippine Red Cross first responders attend to a casualty of a bomb attack inside a Roman Catholic church in the southern Philippine island of Jolo on January 27, 2019. (File photo: Philippine Red Cross via REUTERS)

• Philippine security officials have said two Indonesian suicide bombers carried out the deadly attack
• Mangled body parts recovered from the site of the explosion was construed as an indication of a suicide attack

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s foreign minister on Saturday said her government is seeking confirmation on the alleged involvement of two Indonesians in a fatal cathedral bombing in the southern Philippines.

“We’ve been in communication with the Philippine authorities … They still can’t confirm the perpetrators’ identities,” Retno Marsudi told journalists. “The investigation and identification process is still ongoing.”

Philippine Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano on Friday said he was convinced that the suicide bombers who attacked the cathedral were a couple from Indonesia who were under the guidance of the Abu Sayyaf Group. 

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir on Friday said the Indonesian Embassy in Manila and the consulate in Davao City were still trying to confirm the news. 

Philippine authorities “still can’t identify the perpetrators’ identity and nationality,” he added.

Both Indonesia’s police and its national counterterrorism agency said they have not received any confirmation of the alleged Indonesian couple’s involvement in the attack that killed 22 people and wounded more than 100.