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Philippines blames militants for bombings that injured 52
[AFP] The Philippine government blamed Islamic insurgents Friday for bombings that left 52 people wounded during the country's Christmas holidays.A bomb blast ripped through boxing fans watching a bout in the central town of Hilongos on late Wednesday, while six people were injured in a roadside bomb attack on the southern island of Mindanao the same night. Police said 13 people were also wounded in another explosion outside a Catholic church during Christmas Eve mass in Mindanao on Saturday. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, "It looks like they are employing diversionary tactics elsewhere to ease military pressure on them." Two small Mindanao-based militant groups, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Maute group, are suspected of involvement in the bomb attacks after they formed a tactical alliance and began sharing bomb-making technology, according to Lorenzada. Philippine president Duterte has been pursuing peace talks with the MILF, while ordering a crackdown on Mindanao militant factions that spurned his peace drive. The BIFF is a breakaway faction from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which has been observing a ceasefire with the government. Like the Maute group, which has fought skirmishes with Phillipine forces in another area of Mindanao this year, the BIFF has been seen using the black flags associated with Daesh. The third group targeted in the military crackdown is the Abu Sayyaf. In November, Philippine police detained two suspected Maute militants who allegedly planted an improvised explosive device near the U.S. embassy in Manila. Earlier that month, the military blamed the group for a roadside bomb that wounded seven of Duterte's military bodyguards ahead of his visit to the region. Posted by: ryuge 2016-12-31 |
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