At least 14 people have been killed and several others injured after two explosions, including one allegedly carried out by a female suicide bomber, hit the southern Philippine city of Jolo, according to authorities.
Philippine Red Cross Chief Richard Gordon said the first explosion hit around noon (04:00 GMT) on Monday in the capital Sulu, one of the southernmost provinces of the country.
Gordon, who is also a senator, said a motorcycle loaded with improvised explosive devices dropped off at a military truck. The Red Cross office in Jolo is near the site of the explosion.
Five soldiers and four civilians were killed in the first explosion.
INccording to news stories, aAuthorities seized the area, a report by a female suicide bomber who killed one person. As confirmed, it is only the fourth known suicide attack in the country.
“A female suicide bomber detonated herself when a soldier stopped her from entering the cordoned-off area,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Ronaldo Mateo, a spokesman for the Army-based radio station Manila DZMM.
At least 24 government troops were injured in the two explosions, the responsibility of which was not claimed by anyone.
The blasts happened not far from the site of a major explosion that killed more than 20 people in a Catholic church in early 2019, according to state-run PTV channel.
Images posted by PTV on social media on Monday show debris and bodies lying in a street next to a military vehicle.
In a statement, Philippine Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa said he had ordered an investigation into the fatal incident, adding that all criminals should be held accountable.
Sulu is known as the stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Group, an armed group that has allied itself with ISIL (ISIS).
Abu Sayyaf has long fought for independence in the southern region of Mindanao, which she considers her ancestral homeland dating back to the pre-Spanish colonial period.
The group is notorious for kidnappings, robberies and deadly bombings.
In June, four soldiers were killed in Jolo following a suspected confrontation with police officers, causing tensions between the two government forces.
According to the soldiers, suspected armed fighters were pursued when they were stopped by police leading to the fatal incident.
Earlier on Monday, Major Gen Vinluan, a military commander in Mindanao, told senators in Manila that it was “possible” that the policemen involved in the shooting could be related by blood to the Abu Sayyaf suspects pursued by the military. become.
“That’s possible because almost everyone in Sulu is related. There’s ASG [Abu Sayyaf Group] who have relatives in the police force … Sulu is small. “
Military personnel removed some of the victims [Nickee Butlangan/AFP]
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