UPDATE: 2 killed, 15 injured in another bombing in Sultan Kudarat
ZAMBOANGA CITY – One more victim died in a new bomb attack in Sultan Kudarat’s Isulan town on Sunday night – the second explosion in five days – blamed by the military to the pro-IS Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters or BIFF in southern Philippines.
The first fatality, an 18-year-old, died at the scene of the blast — an Internet shop — in Isulan while the second died in the hospital early Monday.
It was unclear how the bomb was smuggled inside the computer shop but the attack showed how poor the security was in the largely Catholic province, especially in Isulan town.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the bombing, but this occurred after a motorcycle, laden with explosives, went off on August 28 also in Isulan and killed three people and wounded at least 35 others with the IS claiming responsibility for the blast.
The daring attacks were also timed while the whole region was under martial rule. The BIFF, whose leaders have pledged allegiance to the IS, also claimed responsibility for the motorcycle bombing.
The BIFF, whose members were mostly former Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters, is one of several pro-IS militant groups fighting for the establishment of a caliphate on Mindanao.
Security forces have been fighting militant groups in the southern region the past years. The blast occurred following President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to the armed forces to crush terrorism.
In July this year, a Moroccan IS soldier Abu Katheer al Maghribi, staged a suicide attack in Lamitan City in the volatile Muslim province of Basilan where he drove his van loaded with explosives through a checkpoint before detonating them. The IS claimed responsibility for the July 31 suicide attack that left over a dozen casualties.
Several foreign fighters had been killed in clashes with soldiers in Basilan, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, in recent years. The military has repeatedly urged the public to be on alert and stay vigilant at all times. AL JACINTO
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