Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is considering the twin explosions that rocked a military camp in Indanan, Sulu as a case of suicide bombing, a method of violent attack rarely observed in the Philippines.
Lorenzana told reporters Monday that the potential suicide attack at the base of the Philippine Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team (1BCT) last Friday has already raised the level of radical extremism in the country.
“Personally, I think it’s suicide bombing because he (bomber) was carrying the bomb and he detonated it within the perimeter. There were two of them actually,” Lorenzana said.
“I believe this has raised the level of extremism here and I think we have a lot of work to do to talk to the leaders on the ground, the traditional leaders, the sultans, the datus, and also the BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao),” he added.
Two suspected suicide bombers detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) within the vicinity of the military camp.
Military officials said eight persons were killed in the attack: Three soldiers, three civilians, and the two suspected suicide bombers.
Should it be confirmed by authorities, the incident could be the third case of suicide bombing in the country in the past 11 months.
On July 31, 2018, a suspected Moroccan suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a van he was driving when was flagged down by soldiers in a military checkpoint in Lamitan, Basilan. The incident left 10 casualties.
Meanwhile, 23 persons were killed when twin explosions hit the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu on Jan. 27, 2019. Authorities suspected that a foreign militant couple were behind the attacks.
“This is the third one so it’s becoming an occurrence and we are very much concerned about this,” Lorenzana noted.
Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Armed Forces of the Philippines-Western Mindanao Command (AFP-WestMinCom) commander, said in a separate interview that one of the two suspected suicide bombers in Indanan looked like the son of the killed Moroccan suicide bomber in Lamitan City.
He said the young bomber, who was said to be around 14-years- old, was caught in an old video footage in one of their encounter with the group of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, an Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) commander, three years ago.
“Tinignan namin ang profile tapos meron ako na JTF (Joint Task Force) Sulu commander, nakuhanan namin sila ng video in one of our encounters. That time he was around 11-years-old and this was three years ago so this time, he was around 14-years-old. This matched with the profile of the kid,” Sobejana said.
Meanwhile, the older bomber’s severed head was recovered by authorities at the blast site and has been subjected to DNA testing.
Lorenzana said they have already coordinated with security agencies from the Middle East, United States and other countries to verify the identities of the two suspected bombers.
“The ISIS claimed responsibility but we are checking. In fact, somebody said the bombers were Indonesians, somebody said Filipinos but let us wait our conclusion until we get the checking of the DNA of these people,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lorenzana said that the implementation of martial law could only do so much when it comes to preventing violent attacks like what happened in Indanan.
“Martial law is not the solution to all these because anybody, an individual or two individuals can just go to anywhere because we have not controlled the movement of people in Mindanao,” he said. (Martin Sadongdong)
