Local police say sailors held for five weeks by armed group are released on southern Jolo island.
Ten
Indonesian sailors abducted by Abu Sayyaf fighters have been freed in
the southern Philippines after five weeks in captivity, local police
said.
Unknown men dropped off the 10 tugboat crewmen at the home of provincial governor Abdusakur Tan Jnr on the remote island of Jolo on Sunday, Jolo police chief Junpikar Sitin told the AFP news agency.
Unknown men dropped off the 10 tugboat crewmen at the home of provincial governor Abdusakur Tan Jnr on the remote island of Jolo on Sunday, Jolo police chief Junpikar Sitin told the AFP news agency.
"The report [of their release] is confirmed. They were there. I saw them," Sitin said.
The condition of the former captives was not immediately known, though Sitin said the group ate lunch at the governor's home.
They were abducted on March 26 by fighters described by Philippine
authorities as members of the Abu Sayyaf, an armed group based in Jolo
and nearby Basilan island which is accused of kidnappings and deadly
bombings.
Jolo's mayor, Hussin Amin, welcomed the release of the Indonesians, but said he was unaware whether a ransom had been paid.
"If this big release came in exchange for money, those who paid are supporting the Abu Sayyaf," he said.
"This money will be used to buy more firearms and will be utilised as mobilization funds by these criminals."
Abu Sayyaf does not normally free hostages unless a ransom is paid, which is the group's main source of funding.
Canadian beheaded
The Indonesians were freed six days after Abu Sayyaf members beheaded a Canadian hostage, John Ridsdel, after their ransom demand was not met.
Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was outraged by the death of
Ridsdel, a former mining executive, calling it an act of "cold-blooded
murder".
Philippine President Benigno Aquino vowed on Wednesday to
"neutralise" the fighters after Ridsdel's decapitated head was left
outside a government building on Jolo.
Authorities said the group is still holding 11 other foreign hostages
- four Indonesians, four Malaysians, another Canadian, a Norwegian, and
a Dutchman.
It is believed the armed group have just a few hundred members but
has withstood repeated US-backed military offensives against it,
surviving by using the mountainous, jungle terrain of Jolo and nearby
islands to its advantage.
Abu Sayyaf violence has claimed more than 100,000 lives since the 1970s.
Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/philippines-abu-sayyaf-indonesian-captives-160501073913227.html
Buat lebih berguna, kongsi:
