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Grenade attack on mosque claims two lives in restive southern Philippines

Wednesday, 30 January 2019 2:15 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 30 January 2019 2:33 AM ]

Philippine police officers conduct an investigation into the bombing of a mosque in Zamboanga City, southern Philippines, on January 30, 2019. (Photo by Zamboanga Quick Response System)

At least two people have lost their lives when unidentified assailants hurled a grenade at a mosque in the troubled southern Philippines, just days after twin bomb blasts at a Roman Catholic cathedral killed nearly two dozen people and wounded many more.

Regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana said the attack took place in Zamboanga City early on Wednesday as a grenade was lobbed inside a mosque, killing two persons and wounding another four.

The victims were sleeping inside the mosque at the time of the attack.

A police photo of the mosque in Zamboanga City after the grenade attack. (PNP photo)

The grenade attack drew immediate condemnation from authorities.

“There is no redeeming such blasphemous murder. It is the highest form of cowardice and obscenity to attack people who at prayer,” regional leader in the insurgency-plagued island of Mindanao, Mujiv Hataman, said. “We call on people of all faiths... to come together to pray for peace.”

On Sunday, a bomb attack against the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the remote and restive island of Jolo killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 100 during a mass.

PressTV-Blasts kill 20 after Muslim self-rule vote in Philippines

Two blasts in a cathedral in the southern Philippines have left at least 20 people dead, with a Daesh-linked group suspected of being behind the attack.

Oscar Albayalde, the country's police chief, later revealed that the brother of a slain leader of the Abu Sayyaf Takfiri terrorist group, which has pledged allegiance to Daesh and is notorious for its bombings and brutality, is a suspect in the attack on the cathedral.

He identified the person by his alias, Kamah, saying he is the brother of former Abu Sayyaf leader Surakah Ingog.

The attacks have come in the wake of a referendum on expanded autonomy for the Muslim-majority and strife-torn southern Philippines, boosting hopes that the plan would bring development, jobs and peace there.

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