Zamboanga: A grenade was thrown into a mosque in Zamboanga city in the southern Philippines where Muslim teachers were sleeping early Wednesday morning. The blast left two dead and four injured, authorities said.
It was the second explosion at a religious site in the south of the country this week, though authorities didn’t see it as retaliation for the bombings of a Roman Catholic cathedral in nearly Jolo during Sunday Mass that killed 21 people.
Regional police Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Luis D Licup said investigators are trying to determine the motive and identity of the suspect in the grenade attack. The victims were from Basilan and nearby provinces at the mosque to teach Islam to children.
Col Leonel M Nicolas of the Army emphasised the grenade blast was not a retaliatory act and was still under investigation. Licup said a personal grudge was among the possible motives.
The Ulama Council of Zamboanga Peninsula condemned the attack as ‘an inhumane act’ and called for people to be ‘calm yet vigilant’. President Rodrigo Duterte’s office described the mosque attack as a taunt to the government and said the successive attacks on different places of worship showed the ruthlessness of terrorists.
“The peace process for the southern region would not be stalled by such obstacles,” Presidential spokesman Salvador S Panelo said. “The movement to change the face of Mindanao and the oppressive conditions affecting its people shall move forward despite these acts of terrorism,” he added.
Meanwhile the official military and police toll for the Catherdral attack was raised to 21 dead with about 100 wounded. One of the dead is still unidentified. The IS has claimed responsibility for the attack.
AP