JOLO, Philippines: A Philippine official says an Abu Sayyaf commander aligned with the Daesh group most likely plotted the suicide attacks on an army camp in the volatile south by two militants, whose identities remain unknown.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano cited intelligence Saturday as showing Hajjan Sawadjaan most likely harbored the two suicide bombers and plotted Friday’s attack in an army camp that killed three soldiers, two civilians and themselves. The military says 22 other soldiers and civilians were wounded.
Sawadjaan is based in the jungles of southern Sulu province.
The Daesh group said in a statement two of its fighters carried the attack with explosive belts but overstated the military casualties at about 100.
Ano said it remains unclear if the non-Arabic male attackers were Filipinos or foreigners.
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Philippines: Abu Sayyaf chief likely plotted suicide attacks
Philippines: Abu Sayyaf chief likely plotted suicide attacks
- An official said Hajjan Sawadjaan most likely harbored the two suicide bombers and plotted Friday’s attack
- The Daesh group said in a statement two of its fighters carried the attack with explosive belts
Russian strikes kill mother, daughter in east Ukraine
KYIV: Russian forces killed an 11-year-old girl and her mother in bomb strikes on the embattled city of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, local authorities announced on Tuesday.
Seven more people were wounded in the attack on the industrial hub that Russian forces are slowly clawing their way toward.
“The dead are an 11-year-old girl and her mother. Among the wounded is a 7-year-old girl,” regional official Vadym Filashkin wrote on social media.
He posted images showing several buildings on fire and windows blown out from rooms scattered with debris.
Filashkin said rescue workers were at the scene and that the number of casualties was still being determined.
“Every day in (the) Donetsk region brings new and ongoing war crimes by the Russians,” he added.
The wider Donetsk region, where Sloviansk is located, is one of five regions the Kremlin claims as part of Russia.
In 2014, Kremlin-backed separatists briefly captured Sloviansk amid the war in eastern Ukraine that erupted following nationwide pro-democracy protests and the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
Ukraine retook control after a few months and has held it since, with Russian forces around 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the city.
Before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Sloviansk had a population of around 100,000.
Separately, Russian-installed officials in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia said two people had been killed by Ukrainian forces over the last 24 hours.
Seven more people were wounded in the attack on the industrial hub that Russian forces are slowly clawing their way toward.
“The dead are an 11-year-old girl and her mother. Among the wounded is a 7-year-old girl,” regional official Vadym Filashkin wrote on social media.
He posted images showing several buildings on fire and windows blown out from rooms scattered with debris.
Filashkin said rescue workers were at the scene and that the number of casualties was still being determined.
“Every day in (the) Donetsk region brings new and ongoing war crimes by the Russians,” he added.
The wider Donetsk region, where Sloviansk is located, is one of five regions the Kremlin claims as part of Russia.
In 2014, Kremlin-backed separatists briefly captured Sloviansk amid the war in eastern Ukraine that erupted following nationwide pro-democracy protests and the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
Ukraine retook control after a few months and has held it since, with Russian forces around 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the city.
Before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Sloviansk had a population of around 100,000.
Separately, Russian-installed officials in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia said two people had been killed by Ukrainian forces over the last 24 hours.
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