Philippines responds to deadly attacks as U.S. reaffirms counterterrorism support

Deadly bombings in the Philippines have drawn an outpouring of condolences and support from around the world, including the United States’ reaffirmation of its counterterrorism partnership with Philippine military and law enforcement.

“We join the Philippine government in condemning these attacks and will continue to support our Filipino partners to strengthen national security,” U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim tweeted following the August 24, 2020, bombings that killed at least 15 people, including children, and wounded nearly 80 others.

Since 2017, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and other U.S. agencies have partnered with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to defeat the Islamic State (IS) and other extremist groups as part of Operation Pacific Eagle-Philippines. USINDOPACOM budgeted about U.S. $72.3 million for the operation in fiscal year 2020, and support includes training, equipment and capacity-building programs.

Two female suicide bombers belonging to Abu Sayyaf Group, an IS-linked militant group, carried out the August 2020 attacks in Jolo, pictured, in the southern province of Sulu, authorities said. The terrorists may have been retaliating weeks after Philippine troops battled militants in Sulu, a confrontation believed to have left an Abu Sayyaf leader dead.

“They wanted to avenge his death,” Philippine Army Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana told The Associated Press. “It’s also a very desperate move because they have lost strength and wanted to create an impression that they still exist.”

The government’s Philippine News Agency (PNA) said the first explosion happened just before noon near two Army trucks parked in front of a grocery store. That was followed an hour later by an explosion in front of a nearby bank.

“This attack is even more horrific in the context of the [coronavirus] pandemic, when the imperative is to pull together to address the damage already wrought on our health, economy, and way of life,” Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo said in a statement. “To kill in such a manner, in these times, regardless of motivation, is inhuman.”

The bombings killed eight Soldiers and injured 24.

“The Philippine Army grieves over the death of these men,” Sobejana said in a statement. “We honor their sacrifice in serving our country and protecting the people of Jolo, Sulu.”

Filipino authorities blame Abu Sayyaf for a series of attacks and kidnappings in recent years in the nation’s southern provinces, including a January 2019 bombing during Mass at a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo that killed about two dozen people and injured more than 100. About 80% of Filipinos are Roman Catholic, although Jolo is mostly Muslim.

Two days after the latest attacks, military personnel deactivated an improvised explosive device and killed one of two suspects who fled an Army checkpoint in Maguindanao province, PNA reported. The dead man belonged to an IS-affiliated group, officials said.

That same day, police announced the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf commander sought in a string of deadly abductions in the southern Philippines, BenarNews, a Radio Free Asia-affiliated online news service, reported.

An August 2020 report on the progress of Operation Pacific Eagle-Philippines noted that IS-linked terrorists have “sought to capitalize on the Philippine government’s deployment of military assets” to support COVID-19 response.

“These groups continue to operate in the southern Philippines where separatist groups and extremist groups have existed for decades,” according to the report, which was presented to the U.S. Congress by the inspectors general of the U.S. departments of Defense and State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

With U.S. support such as air assets and intelligence, however, the Armed Forces of the Philippines continue to conduct counterterrorism operations that keep such groups from spreading throughout the island nation, the report noted. Additionally, operational ties between the core IS group in Iraq and Syria and its affiliates in the Philippines “have been significantly weakened.”