MANILA: Officials said on Monday (Feb. 12) that the suspected mastermind of a bombing at a Catholic mass in the southern Philippines has passed away following a confrontation between government troops and members of a pro-Islamic State organization.
The attack on worshippers inside a university gym in Marawi, the largest Muslim city in the Philippines, on December 3 resulted in four fatalities and numerous injuries. The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Brigadier General Yegor Rey Barroquillo, the commander of the army unit, told AFP that eight terrorists from Dawlah Islamiyah were thought to be responsible for the attack on Mindanao Island.
According to him, there have been five manhunt deaths, one arrest, and two more people still at large.
Khadafi Mimbesa, also known as “Engineer”, was one of the deceased. He was the “mastermind” behind the bombing, according to a statement from the Philippine Armed Forces.
According to Barroquillo, Mimbesa suffered injuries in a gunfight that took place in late January between army personnel and terrorists who were holed up in a mountain farm close to the isolated southern municipality of Piagapo.
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