MANILA: At least four people were killed and around 50 others injured in a powerful explosion at a Catholic mass service in the south of the Philippines on Sunday, officials said, as they look into the suspected involvement of Daesh affiliates in the country.
The blast, believed to have been caused by an improvised explosive device, ripped through a gymnasium at Mindanao State University in Marawi, a southern Philippine city that was besieged by pro-Daesh militants for five months in 2017.
The attack may have been in response to military operations targeting local militant groups that took place in the last few days, said Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of staff of the Philippines’ Armed Forces.
“We are looking at this angle because of the series of operations against the terrorist groups in the whole area of Western Mindanao … what happened this morning could be a retaliatory attack,” Brawner told reporters at a press conference in Manila.
Philippine forces launched an operation targeting the local Dawlah Islamiyah cell in the southern province of Maguindanao on Friday, killing 11 suspected militants including the group’s alleged leader Abdullah Sapal. The militant group, which has been linked to bombings and other deadly attacks in the southern Philippines, pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2015.
In another operation in Sulu province on Saturday, government forces killed Mudzimar Sawadjaan, also known as Mundi, a senior leader of another Daesh affiliate, the Abu Sayyaf Group. Brawner said Mundi was the mastermind of two major attacks in the Sulu capital of Jolo, including the 2019 cathedral bombings that killed at least 20 people.
Both Dawlah Islamiyah —also known as the Maute group — and the ASG were behind the 2017 Marawi siege, a five-month battle that killed more than 1,100 people and forced more than 300,000 others from their homes.
“We are continuously gathering intel operations so that we will be able to run after the perpetrators of this terroristic attack,” Brawner said.
There were also “strong indications of a foreign element” in Sunday’s bombing, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told the press conference. He refused to elaborate so as not to compromise the ongoing investigation, but had said that the attack was intended to “ferment terrorist activity to create confusion.”
The Philippine National Police has tightened checkpoints and put out a high alert for officers in Mindanao and the capital region “to prevent possible follow-up incidents,” PNP official Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Peralta said, adding that fragments of a 60 mm mortar had been recovered at the scene.
The Mindanao State University said it was suspending classes and all academic activities until further notice, as it deployed additional security personnel around campus.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the “senseless and most heinous acts,” as he encouraged Filipinos to remain calm and stick to accurate and official information.
“Extremists who wield violence against the innocent will always be regarded as enemies to our society,” Marcos said in a statement. “Rest assured we will bring the perpetrators of this ruthless act to justice.”
