Singapore "strongly condemns" the twin bombings in the town of Jolo in Sulu province, the Philippines, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan wrote in a letter to his Philippine counterpart.

Act of violence "heinous" at a time when the Philippines fighting a pandemic

The "act of violence on innocent civilians... is particularly heinous at a time when the world, including the Philippines, is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic," Vivian said in the letter dated Aug. 28.

Offering his condolences to the victims and their families in the letter, he said he was saddened by the tragic loss of lives caused by the attacks.

The attacks, which took place on Aug. 24, killed 14 people and wounded 75 others, the BBC reported.

He said: "I wish those injured a speedy recovery."

The minister added that Singapore is "confident" that the Philippine authorities will be able to "swiftly stabilise the situation in Jolo, and bring the perpetrators of this attack to justice".

"Our thoughts are with the people of the Philippines during this difficult time," he said.

Not the first suicide bombing in Sulu

Al Jazeera, citing ABS-CBN, quoted Philippine army commander Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana as saying that the twin blasts were carried out by two female suicide bombers.

Al Jazeera reported that one of the attackers was likely the Indonesian wife of the first Filipino suicide bomber who carried out the attack outside a military camp in the town of Indanan in Sulu in June 2019.

Six were killed, and 24 others injured.

A previous twin bombing attack carried out by Indonesian suicide bombers in a cathedral in the same town in January 2019 killed 20 and injuring 102.

The Philippine military said both attacks were carried out by the armed Abu Sayyaf group.

Sulu, one of a chain of mostly Muslim islands in the Philippines, is the stronghold of Abu Sayyaf, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Top image by Nickee Butlangen/AFP via Getty Images

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