In this photo provided by WESMINCOM Armed Forces of the Philippines, a soldier views the site inside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in the southern Philippines after two bombs exploded on Sunday.

JOLO: The death toll in the bombing of a cathedral on a southern Philippine island has risen to 27 with 77 others wounded.

According to the latest tally provided by regional police, the dead included 20 civilians and seven troops. The wounded included 14 troops, two police and 61 civilians.

Security officials say the first bomb went off in or near the Jolo cathedral during Sunday Mass, followed by a second blast outside the compound as government forces were responding to the attack.
The government says in a statement it will pursue the attackers "until every killer is brought to justice and put behind bars. The law will give them no mercy."

Jolo Island has long been troubled by the presence of Abu Sayyaf militants, who are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organisation because of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.

The Philippine government says it will "pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators" behind bomb attacks that killed at least 19 people and wounded dozens during a Sunday Mass at a cathedral on a restive southern island.

Associated Press