Police investigators have ruled out suicide bombing behind the explosion inside the Marawi City campus of the Mindanao State University (MSU) on Sunday, Dec. 3, that left four people dead and around 50 others injured.
Police Col. Jean Fajardo, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said there is no indication that the improvised explosive device was attached to the body of any of the victims.
“There is no indication that there was suicide bombing involved in the incident,” said Fajardo.
Her statement was backed by the regional director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) who said that the pieces of evidence they obtained so far have no indication that the bomb carried inside the Dimaporo Gymnasium by a suicide bomber.
“We rule that out, it was not a suicide bomber,” said PRO-BAR director Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza.
Based on the initial investigation, Nobleza said a 60mm mortar was used but it is not clear at this point if the bomb was remotely-activated.
Fajardo, for his part, there are currently two persons of interest in the Marawi bomb attack who are possibly connected to a local terror group.
“There is indication that they are maybe members of a certain group that was reported to have previous involvement in bombing, particularly bus bombings,” said Fajardo.
Part of the investigation, according to Fajardo, is to conduct a background investigation that includes the motor vehicles used by the two persons of interest.
“The backtracking of CCTV footage within the peripheral areas of MSU is ongoing,” said Fajardo.