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Police looking into 'threat groups' behind Jolo bombings

Philstar.com

January 25, 2019 | 10:27am

Police looking into 'threat groups' behind Jolo bombings

This handout photo released by Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Information Office Western Mindanao Command taken on Jan. 27, 2019, shows soldiers in front of a Catholic Church where two bombs exploded in Jolo, Sulu province on the southern island of Mindanao. At least 17 people were killed as two bombs hit a church on a southern Philippine island that is a stronghold of Islamist militants, the military said, just days after a regional vote for a new Muslim autonomous region. The first blast occurred inside the Catholic church on war-torn Jolo on Sunday morning as mass was being celebrated, and was followed by a second explosion in the parking lot as troops responded, regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana said.

Armed Forces / release

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine authorities are looking into “several threat groups” behind the twin bombings in a church in Jolo, Sulu, Director General Oscar Albayalde, Philippine National Police chief, said on Monday morning.

“We are looking into threat groups. There are those claiming that they are behind it. We are also looking into them,” Albayalde said in Filipino in a televised interview with reporters.

Albayalde said that they are still working on reconstructing the improvised explosive device, which will help them determine who made the bomb. He said that the construction and the type of explosive used in the bombs are like “signatures” of certain groups.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the double bomb attack on a Catholic church on a southern Philippine island that killed at least 18 people, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activities.

IS issued a formal communique claiming two suicide bombers had detonated explosive belts Sunday, January 27, inside the church and its car park on Jolo.

The ISIS, also as reported on SITE, claimed responsibility for a shooting incident in a Pasay City casino on June 2017.

The police then labelled the claim as “propaganda,” saying that the group was taking advantage of the situation.

Investigation later showed that a lone gunman was behind the attack in the casino. The man was found to have had a gambling problem and had been banned from several casinos due to debts.

Jolo on lockdown

Albayalde also said that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has ordered a lockdown in Jolo.

He added that there are roadblocks and checkpoints in the area.

The police chief said that they are not discounting the possibility of another bombing incident. Albayalde said that they would intensify granted intelligence monitoring and community participation in the probe.

A state of heightened alert has been declared across the Philippines, which has been in a state of national emergency since a bombing in a Davao City night market in September 2016.

Mindanao is also currently under martial law.

The Supreme Court is set to hold oral arguments on the three consolidated petitions challenging the factual basis of martial law on January 29 and 30. — Agence France Presse with Kristine Joy Patag