Bomb attacks target cathedral during Sunday mass in Philippines
Security officials say the first bomb went off in or near the Jolo cathedral during a Sunday Mass, followed by a second blast outside the compound as government forces were responding to the attack.
In this photo provided by WESMINCOM Armed Forces of the Philippines, a soldier views the site inside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in the southern Philippines after two bombs exploded Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019.
Police said a bombing of a cathedral on a southern Philippine island has killed at least 20 people, lowering an earlier announced toll that police said was incorrect due to double counting.
Another 81 people have been wounded in the blast, according to police. The fatalities include 15 civilians and five troops. Among the wounded are 14 troops, two police and 65 civilians.
The first bomb went off at the Jolo cathedral in the provincial capital, followed by a second blast outside the compound as government forces were responding to the attack, security officials said.
TRT World spoke to journalist Noel Tarrazona in Zamboanga City.
Photos on social media showed debris and bodies lying on a busy street outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which has been hit by bombs in the past.
Troops in armoured carriers sealed off the main road leading to the church while vehicles were transporting the dead and wounded to the hospital.
Some casualties were evacuated by air to nearby Zamboanga city.
"I have directed our troops to heighten their alert level, secure all places of worship and public places at once, and initiate pro-active security measures to thwart hostile plans," said Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in a statement.
Jolo island has long been troubled by the presence of Abu Sayyaf terror group, who are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organisation because of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.
In this photo provided by WESMINCOM Armed Forces of the Philippines, bomb victims receive treatment in a hospital after two bombs exploded outside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in southern Philippines where terrorists are active Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019.
Autonomy deal
It came nearly a week after minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation endorsed a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines in hopes of ending nearly five decades of a separatist rebellion that has left 150,000 people dead.
Although most of the Muslim areas approved the autonomy deal, voters in Sulu province, where Jolo is located, rejected it. The province is home to a rival rebel faction that's opposed to the deal as well as the Abu Sayyaf group, which is not part of any peace process.
Western governments have welcomed the autonomy pact. They worry that small numbers of Daesh-linked terrorists from the Middle East and Southeast Asia could forge an alliance with Filipino insurgents and turn the south into a breeding ground for terrorists.
TRT World's Philip Owira has more.
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