Base strike likely a suicide bombing

Tense situation: Philippine Security forces and Scene of the Crime Operatives preparing a police line to cordon off the area for the investigation after a blast in the temporary Camp of the 1st Brigade Combat Team in Barangay Kajatian in Indanan, Sulu. — Reuters

MANILA: A bomb attack that killed eight people at a military base in the southern Philippines was likely a suicide bombing, the army said, another blow to government efforts to rein in militants inspired by Islamic State.

Prime suspects in Friday’s attack on Jolo island was the Abu Sayyaf, a militant group that President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to crush after decades of banditry and kidnapping, and countless attacks on civilian and military targets.