ZAMBOANGA CITY – At least 20 people were injured in a bomb blast outside a packed Catholic church on Sulawesi Island during Palm Sunday and Indonesian police said one of two suicide attackers was being linked to twin bombings in Sulu province in southern Philippines in January 2019.
He said the attackers on Sulawesi were
believed members of the pro-ISIS group called Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, which is
also linked to the spate of suicide attacks in Indonesia the past three years. “One
of the attackers was believed to have links to a church bombing in the
Philippines,” he said.
One of two men riding tandem on a
motorcycle tried to enter the church, but blew himself up after suspicious guards
prevented them, according to reports, adding, four guards were among the
wounded in the blast that killed the duo, but police said one of the bombers
could be a woman based on the evidence collected from the blast scene.
It was unclear if anyone of the attackers
was also a member of the Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu which local police tagged as
instrumental in the twin bombings carried out by Indonesian couple Rullie
Rian Zeke and Ulfah Handayani Saleh that
targeted the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in downtown Jolo.
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Philippine military photos show the casualties of the suicide attacks. |
The
first bomb went off inside the church and the second blast occurred outside just
as people were rushing out of the building. The bomb was hidden under the seat
of a motorcycle parked outside the church.
There
was no immediate statement from the Philippine military on Indonesia’s claim,
but it was unknown how the bomber managed to escape from Sulu and returned to
Sulawesi only to bomb the church.
Security
is tight in Catholic churches in Sulu and Zamboanga City and Isabela City due to
terror threats. (Mindanao Examiner, Reuters)
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