MAGUINDANAO, Philippines -- The outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters on Monday blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the deadly Sept. 2 bombing in Davao City, which left 15 dead and injured around 70 others.
The BIFF and the Abu Sayyaf both claim allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Both groups use the black ISIS flag as their banners.
BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama told reporters they have been receiving persistent information from contacts in the island provinces of Basilan and Sulu purporting that the Abu Sayyaf perpetrated the bombing to get even with the deaths of dozens of extremists in Sulu, killed in encounters with government forces in the past 12 days.
Misry first announced the Abu Sayyaf’s alleged involvement in the bombing through radio outfits in Central Mindanao of the region’s popular Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation.
Authorities have included the Abu Sayyaf in its list of suspects but are also looking at other angles, including the possible involvement of drug lords.
The BIFF has also been blamed for most of the bombings in Central Mindanao in the past three years, perpetrated by its members trained by the slain Malaysian bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir, most known as Marwan, and his Maguindanaon accomplice, Abdul Basit Usman.
The BIFF and the Abu Sayyaf are both fighting for a puritan Islamic state in Mindanao.
These two groups have also been espousing hatred for non-Muslims, an absolute contrast with Islamic teachings on religious tolerance and co-existence with people adhering to different religions.