The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack at a Catholic Mass in the southern Philippines on Sunday, which resulted in the deaths of four people and left dozens injured. The explosion occurred at the Mindanao State University gymnasium in Marawi city, a location that had been taken over by militants linked to IS in 2017. The city was the site of a five-month battle in which over 1,200 militants, soldiers, police, and civilians were killed before the military regained control.
In a statement on its website, IS said that its “soldiers of the Caliphate detonated an explosive device on a large gathering of Christians…in the city of Marawi.” The United States has condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with the Filipino people in rejecting such acts of violence. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also blamed foreign terrorists for the attack, although he did not provide further details.
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Philippine security officials are still investigating the incident, focusing on the bomb signature to help identify the responsible terrorist group. Ordnance experts who examined the gymnasium after the blast recovered fragments of an improvised bomb commonly used by local militants in the southern part of the country. The Armed Forces of the Philippines are validating the claims made by IS and looking into the involvement of the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group, a Filipino militant faction that provided support during the 2017 siege of Marawi.
The attack occurred days after security forces killed 11 members of a local Daulah Islamiyah cell in the province of Maguindanao. The military also reported killing two Islamic militants, identified as Mundi Sawadjaan and Jalandoni Lucsadato. Mundi is a sub-leader of the IS-linked Abu Sayyaf and the nephew of the late Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who was believed to be the group’s leader before his death in 2020. Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan was responsible for a January 2019 bombing at a Catholic church in Jolo, which killed 23 people.
While the Philippines is predominantly Catholic, the southern region of Mindanao has a large Muslim population. Pope Francis offered his prayers for the Filipino people in overcoming evil with good, and his message was delivered to Marawi Bishop Edwin dela Peña through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
