11 DEAD IN LATEST TWIN BOMBING IN JOLO, SULU
Is incident connected to Senate probe on killing of 4 soldiers by Jolo cops?
AT LEAST 11 persons, 6 of them soldiers, are confirmed dead and 18 others seriously wounded, when two powerful explosions ripped through Jolo, Sulu, just several hours ago today, August 24, 2020.
Philippine Army M/Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) area commander, confirmed that 4 soldiers were killed and 17 more were wounded in the initial blast before 12 noon and believed to have come from an improvised bomb (IED) rigged to a parked motorcycle.
The attack clearly targeted the members of the military as Vinluan noted that today is also the ‘market day’ for soldiers who thronged to the local market in Bgy. Walled City to purchase their personal and other needs.
Among the civilians killed was a child of still undetermined age and identity whose head, based on photos, was blown off.
Another photo showed the mangled bodies of several of the soldiers, with one of them cut in half by the explosion.
The second attack occurred about an hour later in front of the local branch of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) along Rizal Avenue, some 100 meters from the initial blast site and killed another soldier. Also killed, reports said is a woman “suicide bomber.”
Among the wounded, meanwhile, are members of the local police and other civilians.
The bombing occurred as Vinluan and other ranking military officials are in Manila for their confirmation hearing before the Commission on Appointment (CA) at the Senate; it also came on the heels of last week’s hearing at the Senate on the June 29, 2020 murder of four members of the Philippine Army by 9 members of the Jolo Police Office.
It can be recalled that prior to being murdered by the Jolo policemen, the four soldiers have been tracking the movements in Jolo of two female suicide bombers.
While it is not yet clear if they were the same ones involved in today’s deadly attack, among the revelations during last week’s Senate hearing was the military’s assertion that some of the suspects are related to terrorist and bandit groups that abound in Jolo.
It has been speculated that the killing of the soldiers was to prevent them from catching up with the suicide bombers.
Early last year, the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral also just several meters away from today’s blast sites, was also the subject of a bombing attack that killed 23 people (This is a developing story).
