In the southern Philippines, which is wracked by insurgencies, a bombing on a Catholic service on Sunday left at least three people dead and seven injured, according to authorities.
According to regional police chief Allan Nobleza, the explosion occurred during a routine worship at the gymnasium of Mindanao State University in Marawi, the majority Muslim city in the nation.
“We’re investigating if it’s an IED or grenade throwing,” Nobleza said, referring to an improvised explosive device.
Mindanao State University issued a statement condemning “the act of violence”, as it suspended classes and deployed more security personnel on the campus.
“We stand in solidarity with our Christian community and all those affected by this tragedy,” the university said.
The provincial government of Lanao del Sur shared photos of Governor Mamintal Adiong visiting “wounded victims of the bombing” at a hospital on their Facebook page.
Majul Gandamra, the mayor of Marawi City, asked the Christian and Muslim communities to stick together.
“Our city has long been a beacon 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 condemning the attack.
The incident happened after 11 Islamist terrorists from the Dawlah Islamiyah-Philippines organization in Mindanao were killed by an airstrike carried out by the Philippine military on Friday.
The gang had been preparing to launch operations in the province of Maguindanao del Sur, the military said on Saturday.
Maguindanao del Sur and Lanao del Sur are a part of Muslim Mindanao’s Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Decades of instability in the area have seen militant attacks on public markets, buses, and Catholic churches.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main rebel organization in the country, and Manila signed a peace treaty in 2014 to put an end to their bloody armed uprising.
But smaller bands of Muslim fighters opposed to the peace deal remain, including militants professing allegiance to the Islamic State group. Communist rebels also operate in the region.
Marawi was taken over by hundreds of foreign and local gunmen sympathetic to the Islamic State in May 2017.
Following a five-month conflict that lost over a thousand deaths, the Philippine troops recaptured the destroyed city.
Nobleza stated that the police were looking into if the attack on Sunday and the airstrike on Friday were connected.
Nobleza added that further investigation would focus on potential involvement of extremist organizations affiliated with Abu Sayyaf and remnants of the Maute siege in Marawi.
