'Islamist' Bomb Kills 5 at Philippines Cathedral

A bombing outside a church in the southern Philippines this morning killed five and injured 45, Reuters reports. The military blamed the attack on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a militant separatist group, the BBC notes. “The rebels are getting desperate and they are no longer choosing their targets," an official said. "They are now attacking even places of worship.” A leader of the group denied the charge.

“Who needs a Christian-Muslim conflict?" he told Reuters via text message. "There's no religious conflict in the south. We're fighting for our right of self-determination. We're only defending our people and our communities.”
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