A decades-old Islamist insurgency in the southern Philippines has killed tens of thousands. But suicide attacks have been used extremely rarely, with foreign fighters blamed for the few that have been carried out. It was the third suspected suicide attack since July 2018. At the same time, there are strong motivations from local militant cells to try to catch the eye of the IS central leadership with suicide attacks. “Members of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia might be thinking they really need to up their game to get back in the good graces of Islamic State central,” said Abuza.

Source: The Guardian July 02, 2019 09:56 UTC