MANILA: Authorities said Tuesday ( Dec 5 ) that police in the Philippines are pursuing four men, including two who are connected to a local militant group, in connection with the deadly bombing of sacramental Catholic mass there.
The country’s largest Muslim area, Marawi, which was besieged by radical militants in 2017, experienced an attack on worshippers on Sunday inside a college gymnasium. A manhunt was in progress.
In the attack, which was later claimed by the radical party of the Islamic State, four people were killed and 50 were injured.
The attack was attributed to “foreign jihadists” by President Ferdinand Marcos.
Two Filipino men who were seen by testimony inside the gymnasium prior to the explosion have been identified by police, both of whom have criminal histories that include death.
” Their behavior was extremely wary. According to Colonel Jean Fajardo, a spokesperson, this raised the possibility that they were involved in the explosion.
She said,” There’s an ongoing quest operation.”
The other two gentlemen and the reason for the attack were still unknown to the authorities.
The two Filipino suspects, according to Fajardo, belonged to a violent organization that was “previously involved in bombing incidents in Mindanao,” but she would not give its title.
The attack, according to Army Chief General Romeo Brawner, may have been retaliation for new military operations against Dawlah Islamiyah-Philippines, Abu Sayyaf, and Maute violent groups.
According to Brawner, one of those procedures resulted in the death of an Abu Sayyaf “bomb expert” who was reportedly behind the deadly attack on a temple on the southern area of Jolo in 2019.
Marawi was under assault in 2017 by pro-Islamic State Maute and Abu Sayyaf insurgents, including international and local soldiers.
After a five-month fight that claimed more than 1, 000 lives, the Spanish military reclaimed the destroyed city.
After the military forewarned local security forces, government representatives, and the general public of potential hostile problems, Brawner insisted that there should have been “more security measures in place” before the bombing on Sunday.
Violent assaults on cars, Catholic churches, and open markets have been a recurring theme of unrest in the area for years.
In 2014, Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest rebel group, reached an agreement to put an end to their lethal military uprising.
However, there are still smaller groups of Muslim soldiers fighting against the peace agreement, including insurgents pledging allegiance to the Islamic State organization. Rebel communists are also active in the area.