Thursday, February 1, 2018

WesMinCom: Abu Sayyaf hostages now down to nine

From UNTV News & Rescue (Jan 31): WesMinCom: Abu Sayyaf hostages now down to nine

 

Based on the figures of the military, the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is holding nine hostages only, particularly in the province of Sulu, from the previous 30 hostages in 2016.

Aside from neutralizing the rebel group, the Armed Forces of the Philippines – Western Mindanao Command (AFP-WesMinCom) also targets to rescue its remaining hostages.

Based on the figures of the military, the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is holding nine hostages only, particularly in the province of Sulu, from the previous 30 hostages in 2016.

Four of the hostages are Filipino nationals while five were foreigners.


The AFP believes they can rescue the remaining hostages through their continuous conduct of offensive operations.

“Sa ngayon, nakikita natin na we are continuing our effort in rescuing these hostages. More on Sulu base, we cannot reveal you kung sino ang humahawak cause it’s already an operational matter,” said WesMinCom Commander LtGen. Carlito Galvez Jr.

(For now, we can see that we are continuing our effort in rescuing these hostages. More on Sulu base, we cannot reveal you who is handling it, ‘cause it’s already an operational matter.)

Meanwhile, the number of casualties on the part of the ASG has climbed to 128.

Eighty ASG members were arrested while 166 have surrendered to the military.

Seventy-two of them are from Basilan, 61 from Sulu and 33 are from Tawi-Tawi province.
 
The AFP said that the high number of surrenderers is a good indication that the group is near a total defeat.

The military noted that ASG’s leadership has been in chaos after the death of one of its top leaders, Isnilon Hapilon, who was declared the emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia.

The WesMinCom commander claims that the declaration of martial law in Mindanao helped them in lessening the threats from rebel groups in the region.

“Yun ang target naming na at the end of 2018 sa duration ng martial law we can have a significant dent ang target namin is 70% of the threat will be removed,” said Galvez.

(Our target at the end of 2018 in the duration of martial law, we can have a significant dent. Our target is 70% of the threat will be removed.)

https://www.untvweb.com/news/133307-2/

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