Philippines nabs 2 in embassy bomb try

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine police officials have captured two Islamic State sympathizers suspected of trying to detonate a bomb near the U.S. Embassy.

National police chief Director-General Ronald de la Rosa said Thursday that the two militants, who were arrested separately Wednesday, initially attempted to detonate the homemade bomb at Manila’s seaside Rizal Park.

The bomb, which was designed to explode remotely with the use of a cellphone, also failed to explode near the embassy on Monday in Manila’s tourist and diplomatic section.

Police presented the handcuffed suspects at a news conference, where they also announced a terror alert, which means more road security checkpoints would be set up, and possibly more raids on suspected militant hideouts.

The suspects, Rashid Kilala and Jiaher Guinar, belonged to a small Muslim militant group called Ansar Al-khilafa Philippines. They wanted to impress the Islamic State extremist group and secure possible funding from the Middle East-based terrorist group, de la Rosa said.