Grenade kills two in southern Philippines mosque

Reuters - A grenade thrown into a mosque in Zamboanga, Philippines, on Wednesday (January 30) killed two people and wounded four others, prompting condemnation and calls for cool heads and unity among Christian and Muslim communities with a long history of peaceful coexistence. The grenade incident came a few hours after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on television that an attack on a church that killed 21 people on mainly Muslim Jolo island on Sunday (January 27) may have involved a suicide bomber. Islamic State has claimed involvement in the church bombing, but the military believes it was the work of the Muslim militant Abu Sayyaf group. The military has said it has identified several suspects and carried out an air strike on Jolo on Tuesday (January 29) on an undisclosed target. Local media also broadcast video it said showed soldiers firing artillery rounds towards the house of one of the church bombing suspects. Defence minister Delfin Lorenzana said there was no connection between the church bombs and the mosque attack, echoing remarks by a local task force commander that it was "not a retaliatory act."