Bombing of Catholic mass in southern Philippines leaves four dead

Police say explosion at Mindanao State University gymnasium in Marawi could be revenge by pro-Islamic State militants

Philippine forces were on high alert after a bomb killed four people and wounded many more during a Catholic mass in a university gymnasium in the south of the country, an attack the authorities called Islamist terrorism.

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the senseless and most heinous acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists," said the president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Extremists who wield violence against the innocent will always be regarded as enemies to our society."