(Eagle News)– Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla announced on Monday (September 19) the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has scattered into smaller groups to avoid offensives of government troops.
“The groups have separated into smaller groups and many of the kidnap victims are held by the smaller groups, and we hope to bring fruition to our efforts by a more intense and more focused operation that is still in the offing,” Padilla said.
“We’re doing our best to bring resolution to this problem that we face in relation to this group. Now as a result of this increasing pressure, we believe that the release of the kidnap victims still in their hands will come in due time one after the other,” he added.
On Saturday, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and three Indonesian sailors were released to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) while two Filipino hostages were released on Sunday night.
Padilla said there were still 16 hostages held by the bandit group.
“There remains 12 foreign hostages in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf. The locals, there are four locals also in their hands,” Padilla said.
“Based on our monitoring and our feedback from the field, we believe that most of these hostages are still in good condition and that’s what we are aiming to accomplish, to rescue them or recover them safely,” he assured.
