Operations underway to rescue 17 Abu Sayyaf hostages

From ABS-CBN (Dec 8): Operations underway to rescue 17 Abu Sayyaf hostages

A military commander based in Sulu said operations are already underway for the rescue of 17 more hostages in the hands of terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.

“We just hope that there will be a development everyday but we are careful (in our operations). This is an intelligence-driven operation and that human lives cannot be overemphasized,” Col. Jose Johriel Cenabre, the commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade, said.

Cenabre will not give a timetable, saying: “Nobody can predict anything, not even in a basketball game.”

He said the safety of the hostages is paramount. “Our operations are intelligence-driven. We are not operating as if we do not value human lives…We have been operating to rescue the remaining hostages. We have efforts on that,” he said.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin earlier ordered the military to rescue the 17 without compromising their safety.

This comes after Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani escaped his captors. The remaining 17 in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf include Dutchman Elwold Horn and Swiss national Lorenzo Vinciguerra.

Atyani and his cameramen were seized in June 2012. The cameramen, both Filipinos, were released last February.

Atyani was recovered by authorities last Wednesday night and is now on his way back to his home country.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/08/13/operations-underway-rescue-17-abu-sayyaf-hostages