Four people were killed and 42 others injured in an explosion during a Catholic Mass at a university gymnasium in Marawi, Philippines on Sunday.
Marawi is a city in the southern Philippines with a predominantly Muslim population, and is known for being the site of a five-month battle between government forces and Islamic State-affiliated militants in 2017.
The police commander in the region, Brig Gen Allan Nobleza who stated that the situation is under control, said that the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group could be behind bombing.
Nobleza said 11 of its members died in an encounter with the Philippine Army last Friday in neighbouring Datu Hoffer Ampatuan town adding that the explosion could be a form of retaliation.
Speaking on the incident, the President of the country, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., condemned the blast as a senseless and most heinous act, adding that it was perpetrated by foreign terrorists.
He appealed to the public to remain calm, adding that the government would bring the perpetrators of the ruthless act to justice.
Preliminary investigation, according to officials, said a grenade or an improvised bomb was likely to have caused the explosion.