Fragments of a 16mm mortar were recovered at the scene
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday condemned a deadly bombing, blaming it on “foreign terrorists,” as police and military beefed up security in the country's south and around the capital Manila.
At least four people were killed and at least 50 injured after a bomb exploded during a Catholic morning mass in a university gym in Marawi, a city in the country's south that was besieged by Islamist militants for five months in 2017.
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the senseless and most heinous acts committed by foreign terrorists,” Marcos said in a statement. “Extremists who commit violence against innocents will always be considered enemies of our society.”
In Rome, Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims during his Sunday address and, in a separate written message, appealed to “Christ, the Prince of Peace, to grant all strength to turn away from violence and overcome every evil with good. “
Law enforcement operations to bring to justice the perpetrators of the “terrorist activity” will “continue unabated,” Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro said at a news conference.
There were “strong indications of a foreign element” in the bombing, Teodoro said, declining to elaborate further so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation.
Fragments of a 16mm mortar were recovered at the scene, senior police official Emmanuel Peralta told the news conference.
The blast in Marawi, the capital of Lanao del Sur province, followed a series of military operations against local pro-Islamic State groups in the southern Philippines, the military chief said, including one on Sunday in Lanao del Sur that led to the death of a leader of the Dawlah Islamiya-Maute group.
“It is possible that what happened this morning was a retaliatory attack,” Romeo Brawner, head of the armed forces, said at the news conference.
The Islamic State-affiliated Maute captured Marawi in May 2017, in an attempt to turn it into a Southeast Asian “wilayat” – or governorate – for the Islamic State. In the ensuing five-month battle, Islamic fighters and Philippine forces killed more than a thousand people, including civilians.
Military officials examined the Mindanao State University gym, which appeared intact except for burn marks in the center where the explosion occurred, according to images shared by the Lanao del Sur government on Facebook. There were white plastic chairs everywhere.
Videos posted by DZBB radio on X showed rescuers carrying injured people on plastic chairs out of the gym.
Police stations in Mindanao and the capital region are on high alert and police controls have been tightened “to prevent possible follow-up incidents,” police official Peralta said.
The Coast Guard has ordered its districts to intensify pre-departure inspections at ports.
Mindanao State University is “deeply saddened and shocked by the act of violence that occurred during a religious gathering,” the school wrote on Facebook. “We unequivocally condemn in the strongest possible terms this senseless and heinous act.”
The university says it will suspend classes until further notice.
