Photo shows kidnapped Moro filmmakers Linda and Nadjoua Bansil. (Courtesy of Muhammed Bansil and El-Nino Tan)
Philippine authorities have recovered two kidnapped Muslim sisters after they escaped from their Abu Sayyaf captors in the southern province of Sulu, officials said.
Officials said Linda and Nadjoua Bansil, who are both filmmakers, were recovered by security forces in Sitio Kantatang in the village of Buhanginan in Patikul town.
“After eight months in captivity, KVs (kidnapped victims) escaped fm (from) their captors and were recovered in Sitio Kantatang, Buhanginan, Patikul, Sulu by PN (Marines). Due to the pressure by the Sulu governor (Totoh Tan) and opnl (operational) efforts of the soldiers, the kidnappers loosen their grip on the sisters Linda and Nadjoua Bansil. Devt (development) rpt (report) will folw (follow),” a military radio message said.
Another military report from Sulu province reads: “On February 20, 2014, around five o’clock in the afternoon, a joint special operation conducted by the elements of Marine Battalion Landing Team Six (MBLT-6), Marine Battalion Landing Team Two (MBLT-2) and 2nd Marine Brigade & Sulu PPO with efforts from Sulu Vice Governor Sakur Tan successfully recovered the two (2) kidnapped victims Nadjoua and Linda BANSIL in Sitio Kantatang, Barangay Buhanginan, Patikul, Sulu.”
“To recall, Nadjoua and Linda Bansil were Muslim-Filipinos who were abducted last June 22, 2013 in Sitio Baunuh, Barangay Liang, Patikul, Sulu by armed men identified as the young members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu who were allegedly trained by foreign Jihadists. The sisters were working together to produce an independent Film entitled "Coffee Armalite” showcasing Filipino Muslim’ life and culture. On the same day, said kidnapped victims will be brought to Western Mindanao Command (WESMINCOM) for proper disposition,” it said.
The duo, whose mother Fatiha Elouali is an Algerian, was seized on June 22 last year while filming in the town together with members of the Sultanate of Sulu Darul Islam. The kidnappers had demanded P50 million ransoms from the Algerian embassy through the sisters’ mother. Algeria has no embassy in Manila, but Malaysia.
Both sisters are residents of Zamboanga City.
The Abu Sayyaf is still holding several foreigners and Filipinos hostages in the southern Philippines and just recently, six gunmen – some of them clad in police uniform – seized a 28-year old woman, Sabrina Ikbala Voon – in Zamboanga City.
Voon was forcibly taken from her house in the village of Mercedes and dragged her to a white van which was later recovered on a neighboring village by pursuing policemen.
Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, a regional police spokesman, said police and military forces were searching for the woman. He said the gunmen speak in Tausug, a dialect widely used in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the abduction, but authorities had previously blamed kidnapping cases to the Abu Sayyaf group.
http://mindanaoexaminer.blogspot.com/2014/02/kidnapped-muslim-filmmakers-in.html
Most likely ransom was paid for the release of the two sisters. When kidnap victims in the Philippines assert that they "escaped" from their Abu Sayyaf captors, especially after months of detention, you can be sure that they were released after the payment of ransom. The "escape" subterfuge is just a cover story that allows the victims to deny that any ransom payment was made in violation of Philippine government policy.
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