Abus still hold 23 hostages, says AFP

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In this photo taken on August 31, 2016, shows an aerial shot taken from an air force helicopter of the coastal area of Jolo town, Sulu province, in southern island of Mindanao, as troops carried out President Rodrigo Duterte's orders to "destroy" the militants. Duterte tagged on September 3, the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic militant group from the southern Philippines notorious for kidnappings, as a possible suspect in a deadly blast in his home town of Davao. / AFP PHOTO / MARK NAVALES
In this photo taken on August 31, 2016, shows an aerial shot taken from an air force helicopter of the coastal area of Jolo town, Sulu province, in southern island of Mindanao, as troops carried out President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders to “destroy” the militants./ AFP PHOTO / MARK NAVALES

 

(Eagle News)– The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday (December 13) revealed the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) still holds 18 foreign and five Filipino hostages.

AFP spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla said two of the foreign captives were Japanese treasure hunter Toshio Ito and Dutch national Ewold Horn.

Ito was abducted from Pangutaran Island in Sulu on July 16, 2010.

Horn, on the other hand, was abducted along with fellow European bird watcher Lorenzo Vinciguerra from Panglima Sugala, Tawi-Tawi in February 2012.

Padilla said they are hoping that the military’s continuous offensive against the bandits in Sulu and Basilan will result in the release and rescue of more captives.

On Monday, the AFP announced that the ASG has released two Indonesian captives.