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Islamist jihadists prime suspects in Philippine cathedral bombing
Yes, ISIS claimed it. But claiming is easy, and there are so many groups claiming allegiance whose alignment may or may not have been accepted by the home office, such as it is.
[IsraelTimes] Investigators probing the Catholic cathedral bombing that killed 21 people in the Philippines’ restive south say a group tied to notorious Islamist Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
 is the prime suspect.

Two kabooms tore through the cathedral on the Moslem-majority island of Jolo yesterday, killing worshipers at Sunday mass and security forces in an attack claimed by the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 terror group.

Authorities say the so-called Ajang-Ajang faction is a small band of several dozen that most likely carried out the bombing, the Philippines’ worst in years, in an act of Dire Revenge.

"Last year their leader was killed. There have been persistent reports that they will retaliate," regional military front man Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana tells AFP.

"Yes, we saw them in the CCTV. It was the brother of the leader who was killed," he says referring to footage from outside the cathedral. "He was seen with two other members of Ajang-Ajang."

Security forces say the group is composed of relatives of Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group members who have been killed in festivities with the government.
Al Ahram adds:
Experts voiced concern on Monday over the impact the attack would have on a decades-long push for peace that culminated last week in voters approving expanded Moslem self-rule in the south.

The vote was the result of negotiations started in the 1990s with the nation's largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and will give it considerable power over the so-called Bangsamoro region.

The IS claim, in a formal communique, said two jacket wallahs had detonated boom belts, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activities.

But a military report said the second bomb was left in the utility box of a cycle of violence in the parking area outside the church. Police said they believe the explosives were detonated remotely, but did elaborate.
Posted by: trailing wife 2019-01-29
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=533086