AFP: 3 foreigners, 5 locals still held captive by ASG

From ABS-CBN/ANC (Jun 9): AFP: 3 foreigners, 5 locals still held captive by ASG



Terror group Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) still holds eight people captive, reports the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday.

"As of now, [they] have 8 captives—[they] have 3 foreigners and 5 locals," Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., chief of the Public Affairs office of the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) told ANC's Dateline Philippines.

This, after suspected ASG members freed on Wednesday four Malaysians who were kidnapped last April while they were on board their tugboat off the waters of Sabah.

READ: Abu Sayyaf frees 4 Malaysian captives

The Wesmincom has yet to comment if ransom was paid in exchange for the safe release of the victims, but Tan claims, the military had no hand in their release.

"The military has no part in the release. Maybe some people have negotiated for their release, but the military has no part in the release of the said Malaysians yesterday," he said.

A nondescript "black speed boat" fetched the Malaysians and that left no clue as to who negotiated for their freedom, he said.

Nevertheless, Tan assures that the Wesmincom is not letting up on its efforts to rescue the remaining victims, including two foreigners shown in a video released by ASG.

The video showed ASG's Canadian and Norwegian captives, and the group set June 13 as deadline for ransom payment before they kill the two.

"With deadlines or not, our troops here are doing their best to rescue the kidnap victims. Our momentum has never changed," said Tan.

"The terrain and the Abu Sayyaf Group being locals of this place make it hard for us, but the troops learn from the operations and hopefully, anytime soon, we’ll be able to rescue the victims," he added.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/regions/06/09/16/afp-3-foreigners-5-locals-still-held-captive-by-asg