Twin bomb attacks on Philippine church kills at least 18

It is one of the deadliest bomb attacks to strike the southern Philippines in years. [AFP]

At least 18 people were killed Sunday when a double bomb attack hit a Catholic church on a southern Philippine island that is a stronghold of Islamist militants, the military said, days after voters backed expanded Muslim self-rule in the region.

In an attack claimed by the Islamic State group, a powerful first blast shattered pews, broke windows and left bodies strewn inside the cathedral in the Catholic-majority nation's restive south as mass was being celebrated.