2020, in Patikul, soldiers searching for the perpetrators of the bombings were attacked by fellow Abu Sayyaf militants. The gunfight resulted in the death of a Filipino soldier and the wounding of seven others; two Abu Sayyaf militants also died in the fight. June shootings On June 29, nearly two months before the bombings, four Army intelligence personnel, by-then investigating the possible presence of two female suicide bombers in Sulu province, were killed by Jolo police officers in a shooting incident, with policemen attempted to plant evidence to cover-up the incident. As the bombing happened in the midst of the investigation of the shooting, the military stated the incident have disrupted the intelligence operations that might have averted the bombings, and raised a possible motive that the police officers are connected with the suicide bombers. Reactions Immediately after the attacks, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque condemned the bombings saying "authorities are now conducting an investigation, which includes identifying individuals or groups behind these dastardly attacks." Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles condemned the attacks in "the strongest possible terms" and said that terrorism has "no place in a civilized world". He also stated that he will bring justice to those behind the "inhuman attack". According to Dr. Rommel C. Banlaoi, a counter-terrorism expert and the Chairman of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, the 2020 Jolo bombings were strong indications that suicide terrorism had become the new face of terror in the Philippines. Even prior to the 2020 Jolo bombings, Dr. Banlaoi has already explained, "The rise of suicide terrorism in the Philippines arises from the contagious effect of the ideology of violent extremism propagated by ISIS foreign terrorist fighters in the country. ISIS foreign terrorist fighters capitalize on local grievances, historical animosities, and feeling of injustices to propagate violent extremism in the Philippines, particularly in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao. Violent extremism is the ideology that justifies acts of terrorism in the Philippines." See also Civil conflict in the Philippines International military intervention against ISIL June–July 2016 Sulu and Basilan clashes List of Islamist terrorist attacks List of terrorist incidents in 2020 List of terrorist incidents linked to ISIL List of wars and battles involving ISIL Terrorism in the Philippines War on terror References 21st-century mass murder in the Philippines 2020 murders in the Philippines Abu Sayyaf attacks August 2020 crimes in Asia ISIL terrorist incidents in the Philippines Islamic