Attack during Sunday mass: At least four dead in the Philippines

Early on Sunday, an explosive device detonated during a mass in the Philippine city of Marawi. At least four people were killed and around 50 were injured, as theNew York Times reported on Sunday. A spokesperson for the authorities told the newspaper that an Islamist background was assumed. It is currently being investigated whether the local branch of the Islamic State is responsible.

During the service in the Mindanao State University gymnasium, a grenade or homemade bomb exploded, the media reported. "It came suddenly and everyone ran. When I looked behind me, people were lying on the floor. We didn't know what was happening because everything happened so quickly," one student told the AFP news agency.

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"I strongly condemn the senseless and most heinous acts of foreign terrorists. Extremists who commit violence against innocent people will always be seen as enemies of our society," wrote President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on "X"/Twitter.

Marawi is the country's largest Muslim city and was besieged by Islamist militants for five months in 2017. The Philippine military said on Saturday it had killed 11 Islamists in a military operation the day before. (ben)