Philippine military launches air strikes against Abu Sayyaf militants suspected of deadly church attack
- At least 21 people were killed and more than a hundred injured in two explosions at a Catholic Church in Sulu on January 27
- On Wednesday, two people died and four others were injured when a grenade exploded in a mosque in Zamboanga City
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.
“We’re still looking at it, but we have not found any connection,” Lorenzana said. “In the past when churches were bombed … there were no revenge attacks.”
The attacks have cast a shadow over hopes that a vote to give Muslims in the south more control over their own affairs would help quell long-running separatist violence.
Rebels and the government in Manila have expressed hope the new so-called Bangsamoro area will finally attract the investment needed to pull the region out of the brutal poverty that makes it a hotspot for recruiting radicals.
However, hardline factions aligned with Islamic State were not part of the decades-long peace process with the nation’s largest separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, that culminated on January 21 with the resounding approval of a new Muslim led-region in the south.
Jolo, which is home to hardline Islamist factions, is the only area in the southern Philippines that voted against the Bangsamoro.
The grenade attack on Wednesday drew immediate condemnation from authorities.
“There is no redeeming such blasphemous murder. It is the highest form of cowardice and obscenity to attack people who [are] at prayer,” said regional leader Mujiv Hataman. “We call on people of all faiths … to come together to pray for peace.” Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
