The recent blasts in Quiapo, Manila were most likely carried out by a new Luzon-based faction of extremists as part of a supposed requirement to be officially accepted as members to the Islamic State (IS), according to The Manila Times sources in the intelligence community and several Muslim clerics.

The sources said local IS-linked groups such as the IS Ranao, also known as the Maute Group in Lanao del Sur; the Sarangani-based Ansar al-Khilafah in the Philippines; the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Maguindanao and Cotabato; the Rajah Solaiman Movement and the Harakatul Islamiyah or Abu Sayyaf Group and other small groups in Western Mindanao all had to prove themselves to the IS, which is seeking to establish a global Islamic caliphate.

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