“We have to be prepared,” Lorenzana said. To note, the defense chief confirmed last week that the attack on the camp of the Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team at Barangay Kajatian in Indanan, Sulu, was a suicide bombing based on the statement of soldiers.
The blast killed the two bombers—one of who may be a Filipino—along with six others, including three soldiers and wounded 22 others.
Officials have agreed that if the twin explosions were a case of a suicide bombing and involving the Filipino, then it has elevated the government’s fight against terrorism to a higher level by now dealing with what Islamic militants’ considered as the ultimate act of martyrdom, which is new front in the anti-terror campaign.
Two cases of suicide bombings have been recorded in Lamitan City, Basilan, and in Jolo, Sulu, but both were perpetrated by a Moroccan and an Indonesian couple who were said to be members of the Islamic State. The attacks were carried out in coordination with local terrorists.
Major Gen. Cirilito E. Sobejana said that while one of the bombers in the Indanan attack was a Filipino, they were still in the process of determining whether he had deliberately blew himself or the bomb that was in his possession was remotely detonated by somebody. However, the military confirmed he was a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group.
Sobejana said the probability of a suicide bombing was very high but this would have to be thoroughly validated.
He added that the bomber, Norman Lasuca, a 23-year-old native of Asturias, Jolo, was identified when his mother and a brother went to a military morgue in Busbos and claimed his severed head. The mother said his son left home five years ago and they have not seen him since.
Lorenzana softened a little bit on his claim of suicide bombing, saying that while the military “said that,” it was still “working to determine the veracity of that claim.”
He said that while the bomber has been claimed by a Filipino family in Jolo, this still has to be validated through DNA matching.
“We have to match it first. If their DNA matches; then he is a Filipino,” Lorenzana added.
The defense secretary, however, said he would not be surprised if the attack was a suicide bombing and it was done by a Filipino, citing the history of the Moro’s suicide attacks against American troops in Sulu in the early 1900s.
“If they can do it before when there [was] still no bombs [available]; now there are already bombs,” Lorenzana said. “So the fight is different now. They are capable of doing, it’s in the culture.”
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