MANILA: The Philippines has been placed on “terror alert level 3” after a foiled bombing near the US Embassy in Manila, National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa said on Thursday.
During a press briefing, Dela Rosa said that the new terror alert level meant that police would create “strong check-points” and would conduct “raids on lairs of suspected terror groups.”
Two suspects have been arrested in the case, one in Manila and the other in the nearby province of Bulacan. They are thought to be part of the Maute terrorist group, based in the south of the country.
The foiled bomb attack was an attempt to convince the IS extremist group that Maute group should become its local affiliate, Dela Rosa said.
The suspects told police the initial target of the bombing had been Rizal Park, where there would have been a higher number of casualties.
Dela Rosa said police were currently searching for three people who brought the bomb from Mindanao to Manila. — dpa
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