At least 14 people were killed and more than 80 injured in an explosion that ripped through a popular market in Davao City, Philippines. Presidential aides said they suspected it was a retaliatory attack by Abu Sayyaf militants in response to an intensified military offensive against the group.
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He was in Davao at the time of the bombing but far from the site of the blast, which occurred outside a hotel where he often holds meetings.
The attack prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a nationwide “state of lawless violence” yesterday morning.
Human rights group members gather in front of Quiapo Church in Manila on Sept 3, 2016, condemning the bombing of a night market in Davao city.
Dir. Gen. Ronald dela Rosa said police suspect the Abu Sayyaf was behind the attack, which he described as a “diversionary move” meant to “ease up the pressure that they have been experiencing in Sulu”.
The Metro Manila police command implemented a “full-alert status” in Metro Manila, following the bombing in Davao City on Friday night.
A spokesman for the militant group Abu Sayyaf has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the president said authorities are considering the possibility that drug syndicates were behind it.
“We are trying to cope up with a crisis now”.
Earlier in the day, Duterte told reporters in the city that his declaration did not amount to imposing martial law, but rather ramping up military and police presence countrywide to combat terror threats and to step up the campaign against illegal drugs and other criminality.
Mr Duterte was mayor of Davao for much of the last 20 years before winning elections in a landslide this year and being sworn in as president on 30 June.
“We can only assume that this was perpetrated by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf that has suffered heavy casualties”, he said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cancelled Saturday his first foreign trip to Brunei following a deadly blast in his home town, his spokesman said.
“Our honest condolences go to the families and friends of those who were killed, and we wish a quick recovery to those who were injured”, it said.
However the leader has been largely prized for having ended an armed conflict with communist guerrillas that lasted nearly five decades and killed at least 70,000 people.
“I helped tie their wounds to prevent blood loss”, the still-dazed Morales said. “They were pale like dead already”.
“Chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan, the director of Region 11 of the Philippine National Police, told CNN Philippines that 10 people had died at the scene, and two had died after being taken to the Southern Philippines Medical Center”.
The Department of National Defense (DND) has ordered the Armed Forces to place all its commands on high alert on Saturday.
In the USA, the White House has condemned the bombing and has issued a statement saying the US “stands ready to provide assistance to the investigation”.
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Obama will have an opportunity to offer his personal condolences to Duterte when the two leaders plan to meet on the sidelines of the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders in Laos next week, Price said.
