Bombs target cathedral in Philippines

Govt says it will crush perpetrators as 20 killed; no group claims responsibility

JOLO, the Philippines - Two bombs, minutes apart, tore through a Roman Catholic cathedral on a southern Philippine island where extremists are active, killing at least 20 people and wounding 111 others during a Sunday Mass, officials said.

Witnesses said the first blast inside the Jolo cathedral in the provincial capital sent churchgoers, some of them wounded, to stampede out of the main door. Army troops and police posted outside were rushing in when the second bomb went off about one minute later near the main entrance, causing more deaths and injuries. The military was checking a report that the second explosive device may have been attached to a parked motorcycle.

The initial explosion scattered the wooden pews inside the main hall and blasted stained glass window panels, and the second bomb hurled human remains and debris across a town square in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, witnesses said. Cellphone service was cut off in the first hours after the attack.

Officials said at least 20 people died and 111 others were wounded. The fatalities included 15 civilians and five soldiers. Among the wounded were 17 soldiers, two police officers, two Coast Guard and 90 civilians.

Troops in armored carriers sealed off the main road leading to the church while vehicles transported the dead and wounded to the town hospital. Some of the injured were evacuated by air to nearby Zamboanga city.

"I have directed our troops to heighten their alert level, secure all places of worships and public places at once, and initiate pro-active security measures to thwart hostile plans," said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in a statement.

Salvador Panelo, spokesman for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, said: "The enemies of the state have boldly challenged the capability of the government to secure the safety of the citizenry in that region. ... We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators behind this dastardly crime until every killer is brought to justice and put behind bars. The law will give them no mercy."

Jolo island has long been troubled by the presence of Abu Sayyaf militants, who both the United States and the Philippines call a terrorist organization because of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack.

It came nearly a week after minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation endorsed a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines in hopes of ending nearly five decades of a separatist rebellion that has left 150,000 people dead.

Although most of the Muslim areas approved the autonomy deal, voters in Sulu province, where Jolo is located, rejected it. The province is home to a rival rebel faction that's opposed to the deal as well as smaller militant cells that are not part of any peace process.

Western governments have welcomed the autonomy pact. They worry that small numbers of Islamic State-linked militants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia could forge an alliance with Filipino insurgents and turn the south into a breeding ground for extremists.

"This bomb attack was done in a place of peace and worship, and it comes at a time when we are preparing for another stage of the peace process in Mindanao," said Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. "Human lives are irreplaceable," he added, calling on Jolo residents to cooperate with authorities to find the perpetrators of this "atrocity".

Security officials were looking "at different threat groups and they still can't say if this has something to do with the just concluded plebiscite," Oscar Albayalde, the national police chief, told ABS-CBN TV network.

Ap - Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 01/28/2019 page11)