2023-12-04 01:25:00
Mindanao State University, in Marawi, Philippines, where the Islamic State terrorist attack occurred that left 11 dead / Photo: web msu.edu.ph
At least 11 people died and dozens were injured this Sunday due to the explosion of a bomb during a Catholic mass at a university in the southern Philippines, an area with the presence of insurgent groups, the Police reported.
“Caliphate soldiers detonated an explosive device in front of a large gathering of Christians in Marawi City,” he said hours later. the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) in a statement published on its Telegram channelsaccording to the AFP news agency.
The explosion that occurred this Sunday in the gymnasium of the Mindanao State University, in Marawi, the largest Muslim city in the country, leaving at least 50 injureda police chief told reporters.
Police Lieutenant General Emmanuel Peralta reported that the detonation was caused by an explosive device.
Other security officials indicated that the attack could have occurred in retaliation for a series of military operations carried out against Islamist groups in the last days.
The first reports reported four dead, but hours later General Oriel Pangcog, of the Army, and Brigadier Allan Nobleza, of the Police, The number of fatalities rose to 11according to local newspapers The Manila Times and Philstar Global.
“The soldiers of the caliphate detonated an explosive device in front of a large gathering of Christians in the city of Marawi,” the jihadist organization Islamic State said hours later in a statement published on its Telegram channels.
President Ferdinand Marcos condemned the attack, which he blamed on “foreign terrorists.”
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the heinous and senseless acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists against Mindanao State University,” Marcos said in a statement.
The university also condemned “the act of violence”, suspended lessons and sent more security personnel to the campus, the institution said in a statement.
Images posted on Facebook by the provincial government of Lanao del Sur They showed Governor Mamintal Adiong visiting those injured by the attack at a medical center.
Marawi Mayor Majul Gandamra urged members of the Muslim and Christian communities to remain united.
“Our city has long been an example of peaceful coexistence and harmony, and we will not allow such acts of violence to overshadow our collective commitment to peace and unity,” Gandamra said in a statement, in which he condemned the attack.
Likewise, Pope Francis expressed himself “deeply saddened.” upon learning of the injuries and loss of life caused” by the attack, in a message transmitted on his behalf by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolín.
The pontiff stressed his “spiritual closeness to all those affected,” and prayed for “divine gifts of healing and consolation for the wounded and the afflicted,” according to the ANSA agency.
The event occurred after the Philippine military launched an airstrike on Friday that killed 11 Islamist fighters of the Dawlah Islamiyah-Philippines organization, in Mindanao.
The Armed Forces indicated last Saturday that the group planned to carry out attacks in the province of Maguindanao del Sur.
Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Sur are part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, on the Muslim island of Mindanao.
The region has suffered attacks for decades against buses, Catholic temples and public markets.
In 2014, the Philippine government signed a peace agreement with the country’s largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which ended its armed uprising.
But smaller groups of Muslim fighters opposed to the peace agreement remain active, including some loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group. There are also communist rebels in the region.
In May 2017, Hundreds of local and foreign gunmen allied with IS laid siege to Marawi.
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