Philippine military says ‘massive’ manhunt under way for ISIS bombing suspects
A “massive” manhunt is under way for Islamist militants who bombed a Catholic mass that killed at least four people in war-torn southern Philippines, a senior military officer said on Dec 4.
The police were looking into at least two suspects they believed were behind the blast, which the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed.
“As we speak, there’s an ongoing massive operation to hunt these terrorist groups or suspected perpetrators of the bombing,” Lieutenant-General William Gonzales, the Western Mindanao Command chief, told reporters after a security meeting in Marawi city.
The bomb went off on Dec 3 during a service at a gymnasium at Mindanao State University in Marawi, a city left in ruins in 2017 by a five-month military campaign to end an occupation by ISIS loyalists that triggered alarm across Asia.
“(We have persons) of interest, but the investigation is still ongoing. In order not to pre-empt the investigation, we will not divulge the names,” Brigadier-General Allan Nobleza, the regional police chief, told GMA News.
The United States condemned the “horrific terrorist attack”.
It said it stood with Filipinos in rejecting violence, joining a chorus of support from Japan, Australia, Britain, China and Canada.
“We mourn those killed in the attack, and our thoughts are with the injured,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
In Rome, Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims during his Dec 3 address, and, in a separate written message, appealed to “Christ the prince of peace (to) grant to all the strength to turn from violence and overcome every evil with good”.
ISIS militants claimed responsibility for the bombing, shortly after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said “foreign terrorists” were responsible.
Marawi is in a Muslim-majority region in the predominantly Catholic Philippines that, for decades, has battled with lawlessness, separatist violence and clan conflicts, prompting concerns that it could become fertile ground for extremism.
The police and the military strengthened security in the country’s south and around the capital Manila.
General Romeo Brawner, who attended a security briefing with troops and the police in Marawi, said he suspected the bombing could be a retaliatory attack for operations against local extremist groups in Mindanao island, which makes up a third of the Philippines.
“That could be one of the strong possibilities why this occurred,” Gen Brawner said.
“Your security forces… are working doubly hard to make sure that the perpetrators of this terrorist attack will be brought to justice.”
The military recently said it killed a senior operative from the Abu Sayyaf, a group notorious for kidnapping and piracy that has aligned itself with ISIS.
Abu Sayyaf’s late leader, Isnilon Hapilon, was ISIS’ anointed “emir” in South-east Asia and mastermind of the 2017 occupation of Marawi, which left more than 1,000 people dead during a five-month war, among them fighters from multiple countries. Hapilon was killed by a sniper.
Law enforcement operations to bring to justice the perpetrators of the “terrorist activity” will “continue unabated”, Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters.
There were “strong indications of a foreign element” in the bombing, Mr Teodoro said, refusing to elaborate so as not to compromise the ongoing investigation.
Fragments of a 60mm mortar were recovered at the scene, Major-General Emmanuel Peralta said at a news briefing.
High alert
Images shared by the Lanao del Sur government on Facebook showed military officials surveying the gym where the blast occurred, which appeared intact except for burn marks in the centre.
Videos posted by DZBB radio on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, showed rescuers carrying injured people out of the gym on plastic chairs.
Police offices in Mindanao and the capital region were placed on high alert and police checkpoints tightened “to prevent possible follow-up incidents”, Maj-Gen Peralta said.
Colonel Xerxes Trinidad, a military spokesman, said intelligence officials were trying to validate ISIS’ claim of responsibility.
Of the 54 who were wounded in the bombing, Col Trinidad said, only seven remained in hospital.
Classes resumed in Marawi on Dec 4, but with tighter security.
Source » straitstimes.com
