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Agence France-Presse

A male suicide bomber and his wife carried out a Catholic cathedral attack that killed 21 people in the country’s restive south, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday.
Duterte told reporters that a woman who remains at large left a device that exploded during mass at the cathedral in the remote Muslim-majority island of Jolo on Sunday, and her husband later blew himself up outside.
The president’s account differed from earlier statements by security officials.
He said military intelligence told him on Tuesday the second bomb was strapped on to the body of the male suspect who detonated it as survivors of the first explosion ran for their lives.

“They [investigators] could not find any part of the body because it exploded, because that was terrorism and that was a suicide,” the president said.
If Duterte’s account is confirmed, it would be among the few suspected cases of suicide bombings in the Philippines.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the cathedral blast, saying two suicide bombers detonated explosive belts, according to the SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist activities.
Voters gave a big ‘aye’ to Muslim self-rule in Philippines’ troubled south
Duterte said the Jolo attack was carried out by the Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap-for-ransom group that has also been blamed for the Philippines’ deadliest attacks and some of whose factions have declared support for the Islamic State. “We are sure of that,” he said.
Security officials said earlier on Tuesday that a group affiliated with the Abu Sayyaf carried out the cathedral attack with two explosive devices, one left behind by a woman inside the church and the other hidden on a motorcycle outside.

Duterte said the woman wore a necklace “with a large cross” pendant, like a Catholic worshipper, which he suggested was the likely reason she was not intercepted.
“It’s not the norm in this country to frisk a woman inside the church,” the president said, adding he has ordered the military to “go into a punitive action” against the Abu Sayyaf.
Will Duterte’s sharia gift bring lasting peace to southern Philippines?
The Jolo attack was carried out days after voters overwhelmingly approved expanding Muslim self-rule in the south aimed at ending a decades-old rebellion for independence or autonomy for the sizeable Islamic minority of the mainly Catholic nation.


The church attack came despite Duterte putting the southern Philippines under martial rule after pro-IS militants seized the southern city of Marawi in May 2017.
Abu Sayyaf, which is based on Jolo island, has been blamed for the Philippines’ deadliest attack, a 2004 ferry bombing in Manila Bay that claimed 116 lives.


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The Philippines

Husband-and-wife suicide bombers likely behind Jolo church attack, Duterte says

Policemen and soldiers are seen in front of the Catholic church in Jolo where the bombing took place. Photo: AFP

epa07323448 A handout photo made available by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Information Office (PIO) Western Mindanao Command (WESTMINCON) shows debris inside a Catholic Church where two bombs exploded in Jolo city, Sulu, Philippines, 27 January 2019. According to local media, at least 27 people were killed and 77 others were injured after two bombs exploded outside a cathedral in the city Jolo. EPA-EFE/WESTMINCOM / HANDOUT BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

epa07328506 A handout photo made available by the Presidential Photographers Division (PPD) shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (R) saluting a soldier wounded by an explosion, during a visit to a military camp in Jolo, Sulu province, southern Philippines, 28 January 2019 (issued 29 January 2019). At least 20 people were killed and over 80 others were injured in twin bombings during a Sunday mass at Jolo Cathedral in Mindanao region of the southern Philippines on 27 January, officials said. EPA-EFE/KING RODRIGUEZ / PPD/ HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Asia Briefing: The Philippines

The new Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray (C) from Philippines is congratulated by second runner-up Miss Venezuela Sthefany Gutierrez (R) and other contestants during the Miss Universe 2018 at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand – but social media in the Philippines erupted in controversy over how ‘authentic’ her ethnic background was in representing her country. Photo: EPA

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The president said the bombing was carried out by the Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap-for-ransom group


The president said the bombing was carried out by the Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap-for-ransom group.


Husband-and-wife suicide bombers likely behind Jolo church attack, Duterte says

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}The president said the bombing was carried out by the Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap-for-ransom group

The president said the bombing was carried out by the Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap-for-ransom group