2 kidnapped Indon fishermen rescued in Sulu

From the Mindanao Examiner (Dec 22, 2019): 2 kidnapped Indon fishermen rescued in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY – One Filipino soldier and a gunman were reported killed in a clash Sunday with Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu province that ended with the daring and dramatic rescue of 2 Indonesian fishermen kidnapped by the pro-ISIS group off Sabah in September.

Troops were still searching for the third hostage Muhammad Farhan, 27, following the safe recovery of Samiun Maneu, 26, and Maharudin Lunani, 48.

Details of the military mission were not made public, but a security official privy with the operation said it was a dramatic rescue with soldiers shielding the two hostages from enemy fire as they dashed out the Indonesians from the grave situation.

The armed operations against the Abu Sayyaf were continuing in the province, a known lair of the small, but notorious group known for beheading their hostages and deadly attacks on military and civilian targets.

The hostages had previously pleaded to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to buy their freedom in a video released by the Abu Sayyaf demanding P30 million ransoms.

“We were caught by the Abu Sayyaf Group on September 24, 2019. We ask the Indonesian president to help free us. The ASG (Abu Sayyaf group) has demanded 30 million pesos in ransom,” said Maneu in the clip posted by the terror group on Facebook.

The victims were seized by masked gunmen off Lahad Datu town, just several hours by boat from the Philippine border province of Tawi-Tawi in the restive Muslim autonomous region.

Just last month, Special Forces soldiers and an elite Marine unit also rescued a kidnapped British man and his Filipina wife following a clash Monday with Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Sulu.

Soldiers recovered Allan Arthur Hyrons, 70; and Welma Paglinawan on Mount Piahan in Parang town after militants abandoned the duo and escaping a massive military operations.

The November 25 rescue of the Hyrons occurred 3 days after troops killed 5 militants and wounded four others in a firefight in the towns of Patikul and Indanan. Among those who perished was Sibih Pisih, an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader under Radulan Sahiron.

Pisih was being linked by the military to cross-border kidnappings in Sabah and Tawi-Tawi province. He was also implicated in the mass murder of nearly 2 dozen civilians in Talipao town in 2014.

The Hayron couple was seized by 6 armed men on the night of October 4 shortly after they arrived at their resort in Alindahaw village in Tukuran town in Zamboanga del Sur province. The abductors dragged the victims to the coastline where a motorized boat was waiting and then escaped under cover of darkness.

A caretaker at the resort has confirmed that two of the suspects even rented a cottage. Aside from the resort, the couple also owns the Hyrons College in the town. The kidnappings occurred during an extended martial law in the South where security forces are battling Muslim extremist groups and communist rebels in the restive region. (Zamboanga Post)

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