27 killed in twin explosions during Sunday Mass in Philippines church

Two bombs exploded in a Roman Catholic cathedral on a southern Philippine island where Muslim militants are active, killing at least 27 people during a Sunday Mass, officials said.

Two bombs exploded in a Roman Catholic cathedral on a southern Philippine island where Muslim militants are active, killing at least 27 people and injuring more than 80 during a Sunday Mass, officials said.

The first bomb went off in or near the Jolo cathedral in the provincial capital, followed by a second blast outside the compound as government forces were responding to the attack, security officials said. (AFP/File Photo)

The first bomb went off in or near the Jolo cathedral in the provincial capital, followed by a second blast outside the compound as government forces were responding to the attack, security officials said.

Police and military reports said at least 27 people died, including five troops. A number of people were wounded.

Jolo island has long been troubled by the presence of Abu Sayyaf militants, who are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organisation because of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility.

The attack came nearly a week after minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation endorsed a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines in hopes of ending nearly five decades of a separatist rebellion that has left 1,50,000 people dead.

Western governments have welcomed the autonomy pact. They worry that small numbers of Islamic State-linked militants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia could forge an alliance with Filipino insurgents and turn the south into a breeding ground for extremists.