Philippine soldiers escort a hearse during the funeral of one of the 21 victims killed in the Jan 27 cathedral bombing in Jolo in Sulu province on the southern island of Mindanao. (AFP Photo)
MANILA: Philippine soldiers were involved in fresh clashes with Islamic State-inspired militants in the southern island of Mindanao on Saturday, a day after authorities said two Indonesian suicide bombers were behind the Jan 27 explosions that left 22 people dead in a Catholic church.
Military operations have intensified in a terrorist lair in Maguindanao, part of Mindanao, with bomber planes being used to destroy bunkers that could hold about 20 people, a military spokesman said in a mobile-phone message. In nearby Sulu province, soldiers encountered about 100 Abu Sayyaf members and a firefight was taking place.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said on Friday that two suicide bombers from Indonesia were behind last Sunday’s explosions in Sulu that also injured about 100 people. Members of the Abu Sayyaf acted as a guide in the bombings, Ano told reporters in the central province of Leyte.
The Indonesian couple wanted to set an example among Filipino militants, Ano told CNN Philippines, adding that there were still some foreign terrorists in the country.
The Philippine military this week launched an airstrike against a splinter group from the Abu Sayyaf that it believed led the attack. Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said a Yemeni couple may have been behind the blast.
The bombings came days after voters endorsed the new autonomous region of Bangsamoro, intended to end decades of violence in the impoverished Muslim-majority area.
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February 02, 2019 at 04:24PM
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