Authorities have launched a manhunt for two men believed to have planted the explosives that killed two people, including a seven-year-old girl, at a festival in the town of Isulan in Sultan Kudarat Tuesday night.
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The blast, which also wounded 35 others, was the second deadly bombing in less than a month in the region where Islamist militants have waged a decades-long insurgency.
A man left the improvised bomb in a bag near a grocery store as crowds gathered to celebrate the town’s founding anniversary but he and an accomplice escaped, the military said.
“One [man] did the emplacement while the other one [drove] the getaway motorcycle,” Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said, adding that a manhunt was underway.
The attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, is the latest violence in the south, where a long-running Islamist insurgency has left more than 100,000 people dead by government count.
Sobejana said it was “highly likely” that the pro-IS Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters plotted the bombing.
A military spokesman said the blast could have been in retaliation for offensives against the BIFF, adding the group had planned bomb attacks in parts of the southern region of Mindanao.
“They want to create and sow terror in the area,” regional military spokesman Capt. Arvin Encinas said, adding that two soldiers were among the wounded.
The attack comes less than a month after a van bomb ripped through a military checkpoint on the neighboring island of Basilan on July 31, killing 10 people.
IS claimed responsibility for that bombing as well and authorities believe the man behind the wheel of the explosives-laden van may have intended to target a nearby children’s parade.
President Rodrigo Duterte put Mindanao under martial rule until the end of this year after pro-IS militants seized the southern city of Marawi last year.
On Wednesday, Duterte’s aides condemned the bombing saying it could prompt the President to extend martial law in the area.
The recent blasts follow the Duterte administration enacting a law to create greater autonomy for the Muslim minority in the south and which is hoped will help end the conflict.
The mother of the girl who died in Tuesday’s bombing pleaded with authorities for justice.
“I hope they help us and catch the perpetrators,” Nezel Alayon said in between tears.
Capt. Arvin Encinas, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, identified the fatalities as Devey Shane Alayon, 7 and Leni Ombrog, 52, both residents of Isulan.
The bombs went off near a row of stalls selling second hand items hours after the departure of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, who was the guest speaker of the annual event.
The victims, who suffered shrapnel wounds, were taken to different hospitals in Isulan.
Encinas said the explosions came minutes after patrolling army troopers questioned two unidentified men minutes after they left a bag in front of the H and J Marketing along kilometer 450 of the Isulan national highway.
In the confusion that followed the explosion, the two suspects escaped.
Sobejana said additional troops were deployed in the periphery of Isulan “to build confidence among the populace.”
“We are trying our best effort to bring back normalcy here in the area,” he said.
He said the suspected bomber was seen by witnesses and captured on a CCTV camera.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said it was too early to say if an extension of martial law would be required.
“We’ll see what happens in the next several months,” Lorenzana said.
Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde placed police units in Mindanao on full alert status on Wednesday following the bomb explosion at the night market in Isulan.
“Effective this morning police units in Mindanao are on full alert status,” Albayalde told reporters. He added that Metro Manila police were also on “heightened alert.”
A full alert status suspends all leave-absences by police personnel and territorial police units must be ready for 100-percent deployment.
Albayalde added that a group has already claimed responsibility for the attack but said the police are still conducting post-blast investigation.
The PNP chief said the incident underscores the need to strengthen intelligence gathering on enemies of the state and improving checkpoint activities in the area. With Mark Navales, AFP and PNA