Philippines identifies 2 members of pro-Islamic State group as bomb suspects

December 6, 2023 - 4:57 PM
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Law enforcement officers investigate the scene of an explosion that occurred during a Catholic Mass in a gymnasium at Mindanao State University in Marawi, Philippines, December 3, 2023. (Lanao Del Sur Provincial Government/Handout via Reuters)

 Philippine police on Wednesday named two men suspected of being involved in a deadly blast that killed four during a Catholic Mass in a southern city at the weekend.

Those suspected of orchestrating the attack in Marawi were members of Daulah-Islamiyah Maute, a pro-Islamic State militant group that took control of the city in 2017 and held it throughout five months of ground offensives and air strikes by the military.

The suspects were Kadapi Mimbesa, 35, and Arsani Membisa, age undetermined, the police said in a press conference.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had blamed “foreign terrorists” for the explosion.

– Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Martin Petty