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No link so far between Mindanao church, mosque blasts - Defense chief

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/news/01/27/20190127-jolo-bombing-4106.jpg"/><figcaption>Bombing at Jolo Cathedral. <em>Courtesy of AFP Wesmincom</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - There is no link so far between the deadly bomb attacks that rocked a church and a mosque in southwestern Mindanao 3 days apart, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday. </p><p>Twenty-one people were killed while some 100 were injured when 2 pipe bombs went off at a Jolo cathedral in Sulu province during a mass on Sunday. </p><p>Past 12 a.m. Wednesday, a grenade lobbed inside a <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/30/19/at-least-4-hurt-in-zamboanga-mosque-blast">mosque</a> in Zamboanga City left 2 dead and 4 wounded. Many of the victims were Muslim preachers who had been sleeping. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1392969" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>&quot;We&#x27;re still looking at it pero wala naman kaming makitang koneksyon e (but we can&#x27;t see a connection),&quot; Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo. </p><p>&quot;Even in the past noong binobomba ang mga churches atin sa Davao, Cotabato, GenSan, wala namang naggagantihan...No mosque was bombed in retaliation or whatever immediately after that,&quot; he added. </p><p>(Even in the past, when our churches in Davao, Cotabato, GenSan were bombed, there was no trading of attacks.) </p><p>The Islamic State militant group has claimed credit for the Jolo attack that shattered pews and windows and left bodies strewn across the cathedral. </p><p>The military said it was not discounting this angle, but added that the Abu Sayyaf subgroup Ajang-Ajang was a suspect. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/30/19/airstrikes-in-sulu-as-troops-mount-all-out-war-vs-abu-sayyaf">Airstrikes in Sulu as troops mount &#x27;all-out war&#x27; vs Abu Sayyaf</a></li></ul><p>Meanwhile, personal grudge could be the motive for the Zamboanga blast or the attackers could also be &quot;riding on the Jolo incident,&quot; said the region&#x27;s police director, Chief Supt. Emmanuel Licup.     </p>

<p>There is no link so far between the deadly bomb attacks that rocked a church and a mosque in southwestern Mindanao 3 days apart, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday.</p>

There is no link so far between the deadly bomb attacks that rocked a church and a mosque in southwestern Mindanao 3 days apart, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday.