From Xinhua (Nov 27, 2019): Rescue efforts underway to find 3 Indonesian hostages: Philippine military
MANILA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has assured Indonesia that efforts are underway to rescue the three Indonesian fishermen being held hostage by Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the southern Philippines, a Philippine military spokesman said on Wednesday.
Major Arvin Encinas, the spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command, said that Westmincom Commander Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana gave the assurance to Indonesian Consulate General Dicky Fabrian during their meeting on Tuesday.
Encinas quoted Sobejana as telling Fabrian that the Philippine military is "doing its best to rescue their fishermen. "Our efforts are continuing," Encinas quoted Sobejana as saying.
According to Encinas, the Abu Sayyaf terrorists abducted the three Indonesian fishermen in the waters near Sabah, Malaysia in September and then brought them to Sulu province in the southern Philippines.
On Monday, Philippine government troops rescued British businessman Allan Hyrons and his Filipino wife after a gun battle with Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Sulu. Unidentified armed men kidnapped the Hyrons on October 4 from a beach resort in Zamboanga del Sur province in the southern Philippines.
After the Hyrons rescue, Sobejana said the troops are also tracking down the three Indonesians.
"We had a parallel operation (on both kidnapping cases). We have a unit focused (on the Hyrons) and we have another unit focused on the Indonesians," Encinas said.
Encinas voiced hope to find the Indonesians before the end of the year. The Indonesians are the only hostages in the hands of Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
"Our operations to rescue them is continuing. We are not going to stop. Our troops are on the ground," Encinas said.
Abu Sayyaf Group is considered the smallest but the most violent of the extremist groups in the southern Philippines. The group, which has an estimated 400 fighters, is active in the impoverished island provinces of Sulu and Basilan.
The group is responsible for the series of kidnappings-for-ransom, deadly bombings, ambushes of security personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion in the southern Philippines.
The group, which has been terrorizing the Philippine southern region since the 1990s, preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from the Philippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippine jungles or remote islands.
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