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At least 20 people died Sunday and more than 80 were injured in the attack on a Catholic cathedral in Sulu province in the southern Philippines. There were two explosions, one at the moment when the badistants left Mbad and a second at the parking lot, when the security forces arrived at the scene. Most of the victims were civilians. Authorities suspect the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf to be behind the attack.
Among the victims of the two explosions in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, there are 15 civilians and 5 soldiers. The attack took place in the city of Jolo, capital of Sulu province, about 1,000 kilometers south of Manila. The event takes place a few days after the plebiscite for the creation of a Muslim autonomous region in the south of the country, baptized Bangsamoro and conceived as a peaceful solution to five decades of separatist conflict in the Muslim region of the island of Mindanao. life of about 150,000 people.
This option, ratified in the elections by 87% of the vote, is part of the peace agreement signed in 2014 with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (FMLI), the largest group of Muslim rebels in the Philippines who gave up their aspirations for independence and struggle. armed in exchange for governing this new region.
Sulu voted against it, but within the framework of the region consulted, their votes are considered as a block and will belong to this new entity.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, through the intermediary of his spokesman, Salvador Panelo, promised to "crush" the "unholy criminals" at the origin of the attack. Panelo described the incident as an "act of terrorism" and a "bold challenge" against the government's ability to control the south of the country, an area of activity for Islamist terrorist groups. "We will persecute to the ends of the Earth the ruthless perpetrators who hide behind this cowardly crime until every murderer is brought to justice and put in prison."
Philippine Defense Secretary Deflín Lorenzada described the attack as a "cowardly gesture" and urged the local population to remain vigilant and work with the authorities to "prevent terrorism from obtaining more information. victories ".
National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde said it was likely that the Islamic terrorist group Abu Sayyaf was behind the attack, although no organization has yet targeted the double explosion.
Abu Sayyaf, now in the sphere of Islamic State (ISIS), was born in the 1990s thanks to funding from the Al Qaeda network and Osama bin Laden. The southern Philippines is precisely the center of its attacks. Among those perpetrated by the terrorist group, the one that took place in February 2004 against a ferry, with more than a hundred dead, stands out.
In Sulu, several jihadist groups linked to the Islamic State, such as Maute or the fighters for the Islamic liberation of Bangsamoro, responsible for bloody attacks in the region and who constitute the main threat of the agreement recently ratified peace treaty.
While a Catholic temple was being targeted, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines called on all Christians in Bangsamoro to join "peace-loving Muslims and indigenous peoples in their defense against extremism." violent".
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