By Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Twin blasts that killed 15 people
in the volatile southern Philippines could both have been
suicide bombings, the military said on Tuesday, representing an
escalation of violence that the army chief said may require
martial law to be re-imposed.
Monday's explosions on the southwest island of Jolo killed a
mix of soldiers, police, civilians and at least one bomber and
wounded 78 people, in the Philippines' deadliest attack since a
double suicide bombing at a church in January 2019 left 20
people dead and wounded at least 100.
The first explosion on Monday, initially thought to be
motorcycle bomb, killed six troops and six civilians, the army
said. A policeman and a soldier were killed an hour later when a
female suicide bomber approached the site of the first attack.
"The first explosion was possibly suicide bombing also,"
said Brigadier General William Gonzales, regional task force
commander. "But we can't identify the bomber because a body
around the crater was mangled to pieces."
There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks in the
main town on Jolo, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, a militant
group linked to Islamic State and to at least six suicide
bombings, which are a recent phenomenon in the Philippines.
President Rodrigo Duterte has created a special infantry
division in the Sulu archipelago to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf,
which is notorious also for kidnappings and beheadings.
Duterte made no mention of the attack in remarks on Tuesday.
Army chief, Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, said
re-imposing martial law in Sulu could help isolate and track
down the Abu Sayyaf network.
Martial law was lifted at the end of last year in the
Mindanao region, which includes Sulu, two-and-a-half years after
it was imposed to fight Islamic State-inspired militants who
took over Marawi City.
"The situation dictates, calls for it, with that recent
incident with many casualties, to better control the
population," Sobejana told reporters.
"It is wise to declare martial law again."
(Editing by Martin Petty)