Philippine army chief may seek return to martial law after deadly suicide attacks

Twin suicide blasts in the southern Philippines on Monday killed at least 14 people and injured 75. Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf was blamed

Army chief Cirilito Sobejana said reimposing martial law may be required. It was lifted last year in the Mindanao region, which includes Sulu

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Police and military talk at the site of an explosion in the town of Jolo, Sulu province. The country’s army chief believes reimposing martial law in Sulu could help isolate and track down the Abu Sayyaf network. Photo: AP

Published: 8:15pm, 25 Aug 2020Updated: 8:17pm, 25 Aug 2020

The Philippine army chief said on Tuesday that two Islamic militants who blew themselves up were responsible for the bombings that killed at least 14 people and wounded 75 more in the country’s worst extremist attack this year, and that the escalation of violence may require martial law to be reimposed.

Military officials initially said the first of two explosions that rocked Jolo town in the southern province of Sulu on Monday was caused by a bomb rigged to a motorcycle, while the second blast was a female suicide bomber.

Army commanding general Cirilito Sobejana, however, said an initial investigation, along with witness accounts and security camera video, showed the first explosion was also set off by a suicide attacker. “It’s been validated,” Sobejana told reporters.

The military is trying to determine if the two suicide bombers were the widows of Abu Sayyaf militants Talha Jumsah and Norman Lasuca, Sobejana said.

Jumsah, who used the nom de guerre Abu Talha, was a little-known but key commander who bridged the Abu Sayyaf with the Islamic State group and plotted suicide attacks before he was killed by troops last year. Lasuca died in a suicide attack on a Sulu army camp last year.

President Rodrigo Duterte has created a special infantry division in the Sulu Archipelago to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf, which is notorious also for kidnappings and beheadings.

Duterte made no mention of the attack in remarks on Tuesday.

Sobejana, said reimposing martial law in Sulu could help isolate and track down the Abu Sayyaf network.