The Islamic State group claimed bomb attack who left this monday Four dead and about 50 injured at a Catholic mass in the Philippines, according to authorities.
“Soldiers of the caliphate detonated an explosive device at a meeting of believers (…) in the city of Marawi,” the jihadist group said in a statement published on the Telegram network.
The explosion occurred during a Mass at Mindanao State University Gymnasiumin Marawi, the largest Muslim city in the country, declared the regional police chief, Allan Nobleza.
Another police officer, Emmanuel Peralta, indicated that four people died and around 50 were injured by the explosion of a homemade explosive device.
In a statement, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos condemned the “senseless and particularly atrocious” acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists”.
Pope Francis said he was “close to the families, to the inhabitants of Mindanao, who have already suffered so much.”
In 2017, Marawi was the scene of a bloody confrontation, after fundamentalist groups aligned with the Islamic State (IS) partially took over the city, where they entered with IS flags.
For five months, the Philippine army fought the extremists until the city was liberated, in a battle that left more than 1,200 dead: 978 Islamic fundamentalists, 168 soldiers and 87 civilians.
The island of Mindanao, where around 20% of the population is Muslim, has been the scene of decades of conflict between the Government and several extremist groups, including the Abu Sayaf organization and the Maúte Group, both associated with IS.
Source: TSF
