Four dead in attack on Catholic mass
In the Philippine city of Marawi, many Christian believers gather in a gymnasium for a mass. Then an explosive device detonates, killing at least four people. President Marcos speaks of a terrorist attack.
At least four people have been killed and dozens more injured in a bomb attack on a Catholic mass in the troubled south of the Philippines. The explosion occurred on Sunday during a church service in the city of Marawi in the gymnasium of the state university of Mindanao, local police chief Allan Nobleza announced. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos called the attack "heinous" and "senseless"; "foreign terrorists" were responsible.
The regional military commander, Major General Gabriel Viray III, said that at least four people had been killed in the explosion, including three women, and that 50 others had been taken to two hospitals with mostly minor injuries. Only two of those killed have been identified, officials said. The governor of Lanao del Sur province, Mamintal Adiong, told journalists that more than 40 injured people were being treated in hospital.
The university condemned the act, suspended classes and beefed up security on campus. "We stand in solidarity with our Christian community and all those affected by this tragedy," the university said in a statement. The army and police immediately cordoned off the area. Images from surveillance cameras are being examined for clues as to who carried out the attack. Security checkpoints have been set up around the city.
Danger for peaceful coexistence
The mayor of the city of Marawi, Majul Gandamra, called on Christians and Muslims to unite. "Our city has long been a beacon of peaceful coexistence and harmony and we will not allow such acts of violence to cast a shadow on our shared commitment to peace and unity," he said. Marawi is the largest Muslim-majority city in the predominantly Christian Philippines. It is located in the south of the south-east Asian country, which is suffering from an Islamist insurgency.
The attack in Marawi was preceded by an airstrike by the Philippine military on Friday, in which eleven Islamist fighters from the Dawlah Islamiyah-Philippines organization were killed. According to the army, the group had been planning attacks in the province of Maguindanao del Sur on the island of Mindanao.
Police chief Nobleza explained that it was being investigated whether there was a connection between Friday's airstrike and Sunday's bomb attack. There are also investigations into whether remnants of the militant groups Abu Sayyaf and Maute could be behind the attack. Radical Islamic insurgents had occupied Marawi in 2017. The liberation of the city by the Philippine army took five months.
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Source: www.ntv.de
