MANILA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine authorities have identified suspects in a blast that killed two people and injured more than 30 others on Dec. 31 2018 in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday.
Lorenzana blamed the bombing on the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), an Islamic rebel organization in the Philippines' Mindanao region. The BIFF was founded in 2010 as a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), itself a splinter group of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
"We already identified the perpetrators but we are not yet giving names. But apparently they are connected with the BIFF," Lorenzana told reporters.
Lorenzana declined to give more details of the suspects, saying an investigation is underway.
"They are under investigation now, under tactical investigation to determine their purpose why they detonated a bomb there," he added.
He said authorities are looking into the motive of the broad daylight attack.
Last Monday, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at the entrance to the South Seas shopping mall in Cotabato City. Another IED was found at the same mall with authorities carrying out a controlled explosion.
