MANILA -- The double bombing that killed 14 people in Sulu province this week was the handiwork of the widow of a Filipino suicide bomber and the wife of an Abu Sayyaf leader, a military official said Wednesday.

Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said the 2 suspects were:

- a certain "Nanah", wife of Abu Talha, a subleader of an Abu Sayyaf unit; and
- an alias "Inda Nay", widow of Norman Lasuca, who set off a bomb strapped to his torso in Indanan town in June 2019, killing 6 people.

The 2 women were the targets of 4 soldiers before they were killed by policemen in Sulu in June, he told ABS-CBN News.

Authorities initially said a female bomber on Monday blew herself up while authorities cordoned off the town plaza of Jolo after a homemade bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded. The Bangsamoro police later said both blasts could have been carried out by suicide bombers.

Eight members of the security forces and 6 civilians were killed in the apparently coordinated blasts. Among the 75 wounded were 48 civilians, 21 soldiers and 6 police.

Sobejana said witness testimony and CCTV footage showed the first bomb had been detonated by a suicide attacker.

"It has been validated," Sobejana told reporters.

President Rodrigo Duterte will consider the military and national police's recommendation to declare martial law in Sulu, Malacañang said Wednesday.

• Martial law proposal in Sulu gets PNP backing

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Lieutenant Colonel Ronaldo Mateo said Monday that Abu Sayyaf was "most probably" behind the bombing.

Sobejana said martial law should be imposed "to bring back normality and for us to really control the movement of people".

Listed by the United States as a terrorist organisation, Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of Islamic militants blamed for the Philippines' worst terror attacks as well as kidnappings of foreign tourists and Christian missionaries.

Monday's explosions happened near a Catholic cathedral in Jolo where two suicide bombers blew themselves up in January 2019 killing 21 people. It was blamed on a group linked to Abu Sayyaf.

With reports from Zhander Cayabyab, ABS-CBN News; and Agence France-Presse