Two People Died on Grenade Attack at Mosque, Southern Philippines

Manila, MINA – Grenade attack on a mosque in the southern Philippines, leaving two people dead and four injured in Zamboanga City on Wednesday.

“A grenade was thrown into a mosque that killed two people and injured four others,” regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana told AFP quoted by MINA.

The victims were inside at the mosque during the attack. The island of Mindanao is home to the Muslim minority of the Philippines.

The blast occurred when the country was on high alert after the Cathedral bombing which killed 21 people on Sunday.

The ISIS group claimed responsibility for this cathedral’s explosion.

Philippine authorities initially said it was not a suicide attack, but on Tuesday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte opposed it, saying one of the bombers had blown himself outside the cathedral.

Besana said that it was too early to say whether the mosque blast was in retaliation for the cathedral’s attack, adding that police were hunting down the perpetrators who carried out the attack.

The grenade attack was criticized directly by the authorities. “There is no such blasphemous atonement. This is a form of cowardice and the highest obscenity to attack people who are praying,” regional leader Mujiv Hataman said.

“We call on people of all religions to hold fast to peace,” he said. (T/Sj/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)