Manila: A bomb exploded inside a university gymnasium in the southern Philippines on Sunday morning, killing three people and injuring nine others who were attending a Catholic mass, police said.
The blast occurred at around 7 a.m. local time at the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City, a predominantly Muslim city that has been under siege by pro-Islamic State militants since 2017, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to CNN Philippines, the regional police office said that the victims included two students and a teacher from MSU, while the wounded were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
MSU President Habib Macaayong condemned the attack as a “senseless and horrific act” and suspended classes until further notice. He also urged the MSU community to remain calm and vigilant and to cooperate with the authorities in the investigation.
“We are deeply saddened and shocked by the incident of violence that occurred during the religious gathering,” Macaayong said in a statement. “We unequivocally condemn this senseless and horrific act in the strongest terms.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but police suspect that it was a retaliatory attack by the pro-Islamic State group Dawla Islamiyah-Philippines (DIP), which has been active in the region.
On Saturday, the Philippine military killed 11 DIP members, including some foreign fighters, in a clash in Maguindanao del Sur province, about 100 kilometers south of Marawi. The military said that the operation was part of its efforts to prevent the DIP from establishing a caliphate in Mindanao.
The DIP is an umbrella group of several Islamist factions that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. It was formerly led by Isnilon Hapilon, who was killed by the military in the final stages of the Marawi siege in 2017. The group is now headed by Fahrudin Hadji Satar, also known as Abu Zacariah, who was recently identified by the military as the new emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia.
