2020 Jolo bombings

On August 24, 2020, at approximately 11:54 am, a motorcycle bomb placed next to a military truck detonated outside the Paradise Food Plaza in downtown Jolo, Sulu, Philippines. The explosion killed six soldiers, six civilians, and a police officer, and injured 69 others. Police and military personnel responded to the scene. About an hour later, at 12:57 pm, a female suicide bomber approached the cordoned-off area and attempted to enter. When stopped by a soldier, she detonated a bomb she was carrying, killing herself and the soldier, and wounding six police officers. This second blast occurred roughly 100 meters from the first, in front of a branch of the Development Bank of the Philippines. In total, the two attacks killed seven soldiers, one police officer, and six civilians, and wounded 21 soldiers, six police officers, and 48 civilians. The bombing site was near the location of the 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings.

The first blast occurred as Philippine Army personnel were assisting with COVID-19 humanitarian efforts. The attacks are alleged to have been carried out by insurgents from the Abu Sayyaf group, which has conducted terrorist attacks for over three decades in support of Sulu's independence from the Philippines as part of the broader Moro conflict. Abu Sayyaf pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2016. In the days before the bombing, the Philippine government had arrested several Abu Sayyaf militants, and security forces on Sulu were on high alert due to fears of retaliation.

The day after the attack, the Islamic State – East Asia Province, associated with Abu Sayyaf, claimed responsibility. The Philippine government has stated it believes Abu Sayyaf bombmaker Mundi Sawadjaan created the bombs and armed the attackers. The entire province of Sulu was placed on lockdown following the blasts. On August 29, 2020, in Patikul, soldiers searching for those responsible for the bombings were attacked by Abu Sayyaf militants; the resulting gunfight killed one Filipino soldier and two Abu Sayyaf militants, and wounded seven other soldiers.

Separately, nearly two months before the bombings, on June 29, 2020, four Army intelligence personnel investigating the possible presence of two female suicide bombers in Sulu were killed by Jolo police officers in a shooting incident, with police allegedly attempting to plant evidence to cover up what happened. The military stated that the fallout from this incident disrupted intelligence operations that might have helped avert the later bombings, and raised the possibility that the involved police officers were connected to the suicide bombers.

Philippine officials publicly condemned the attacks. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque stated that authorities were investigating to identify those responsible. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles condemned the bombings and said terrorism had no place in a civilized world. Counter-terrorism researcher Dr. Rommel C. Banlaoi characterized the attack as an indication that suicide terrorism had become a growing feature of terrorism in the Philippines, linking it to the influence of ISIS foreign fighters exploiting local grievances in Mindanao.