2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings

On the morning of January 27, 2019, two improvised explosive devices detonated at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Sulu, Philippines. According to CCTV footage released by the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command, the first device exploded inside the cathedral at 8:28 a.m., and a second device—placed inside the utility box of a motorcycle parked outside—exploded roughly two minutes later in the cathedral's parking area as responding troops arrived. Twenty people were killed and 102 others were injured. The Department of the Interior and Local Government stated the attackers used a strategy similar to the 2002 Bali bombings, intended to inflict additional casualties on first responders, and that the devices were ammonium nitrate pipe bombs weighing at least two kilograms, likely triggered by a mobile phone found near the site.

The bombing occurred one week after a plebiscite on the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, in which Sulu province—including Jolo—was the only province to vote against joining, though it was included regardless due to overall majority support elsewhere. The Philippine National Police believed the attack was carried out by Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members in revenge for deaths of relatives during military operations against the group; Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo also cited poverty as a contributing factor. The Islamic State claimed responsibility, describing the attack as carried out by "two knights of martyrdom" against a "crusader temple."

Philippine authorities named a man known as Kamah, brother of a slain ASG leader, as the prime suspect and alleged bomb maker, along with ASG sub-leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan. On February 1, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año stated two Indonesian nationals had carried out the bombings as suicide bombers, aided by local ASG members acting as guides. On February 4, Kamah and four other named suspects—Albaji Kisae Gadjali ("Awag"), Rajan Bakil Gadjali ("Radjan"), Kaisar Bakil Gadjali ("Isal"), and Salit Alih ("Papong")—surrendered to authorities. Murder charges were filed against these five suspects, with 14 others reported still at large as of November 2019; Kamah denied all charges.

In July 2019, Indonesian police confirmed the involvement of Indonesian citizens Rullie Rian Zeke and Ulfah Handayani Saleh, identified through arrests of affiliated militants and later DNA testing. Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory results in February 2019 identified leg bone specimens matching a male and female among the victims, supporting claims of the couple's involvement, though Indonesian authorities said they had not received DNA or CCTV evidence for independent verification.

President Rodrigo Duterte visited the bombing site the following day and ordered an "all-out war" directive against Abu Sayyaf, with roughly 5,000 soldiers mobilized and Jolo placed under lockdown. The attack was condemned internationally by governments, the United Nations, the European Union, ASEAN, and Pope Francis, among others. Days later, a grenade thrown into a mosque in Zamboanga City killed two civilians, an incident authorities investigated amid concerns over rising communal tension following the cathedral bombing.