Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 3, 2023 / 00:03 am
At least three people were killed and others injured Sunday morning in an explosion during a Mass held in a university gymnasium in the southern Philippines.
Authorities are investigating whether pro-Islamic State militants were responsible for the blast, which set off a panic on the campus of Mindanao State University in Marawi on the island of Mindanao. The province, located on the borders of Malaysia and Indonesia, is home to several Islamist militant groups fighting against the Philippine government.
“This is clearly an act of terrorism. It’s not a simple feud between two people. A bomb will kill everybody around,” Taha Mandangan, the university’s security chief, told the Associated Press. The explosion left the victims bloodied and sprawled on the ground, he said.