Philippine military launches air strikes against Abu Sayyaf militants suspected of deadly church attack

The Philippine military launched an air strike against a local militant suspected to be behind the deadly attack on a Catholic Church in the southern island of Mindanao on Sunday.

Authorities have intensified operations against a splinter group from the Abu Sayyaf in the southern province of Sulu, Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Wednesday, including an air strike in parts of Jolo town on Tuesday. At least 21 people were killed and more than a hundred injured in two explosions at a Catholic Church in Sulu on January 27.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s “directive is to crush the Abu Sayyaf,” Lorenzana said. The military has been receiving reports of a possible terrorist attack in the province as early as August last year, he said.

Investigators are still looking at other suspects in the attack, including a Yemeni couple who may have carried out suicide bombings at the church, according to the defence chief.

On Wednesday, two people died and four others were injured when a grenade exploded in a mosque in Zamboanga City. The grenade explosion tore through the mosque as the victims were sleeping before dawn on the insurgency-plagued island of Mindanao, which is home to the Philippines’ Muslim minority.

Authorities warned against speculating the mosque attack was an act of revenge, adding they had no indication it was retaliation for the cathedral bombing.