Tag: ransom

Vietnamese hostage rescued from Abu Sayyaf in Basilan: military

(Agence France Presse) — A Vietnamese sailor kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao has been rescued after nine months in captivity, the military said on Monday, following the beheading of two fellow crewmen in July. Government troops rescued the hostage on Sunday in Basilan, a stronghold of the kidnap-for-ransom group, following intensified operations against the militants, authorities said. “The hostage was able to run from the militants in the course of military operations and our troops […]

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Soldier, Vietnamese sailor, killed in clash between military, Abu Sayyaf in Sulu

A Vietnamese sailor being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu was killed during a gunbattle between the militants and troops, a military official said Thursday. Van Viet Tran was found dead on Saturday following the clash with members of the kidnapping group in the strife-torn island group, Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana said. A soldier was also killed and 15 other troops wounded while the Abu Sayyaf suffered undetermined casualties, said Sobejana who heads a […]

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Ex-hostage tells of terror as friends beheaded in Philippines

  INDANAN, Philippines (AFP) —  A Norwegian former hostage on Sunday described his psychological torture as he heard his friends being beheaded by Islamic militants during a year-long captivity in the southern Philippines.  A heavily bearded and gaunt Kjartan Sekkingstad, who was released on Saturday by the feared Abu Sayyaf group, also said he narrowly survived military attacks against his captors, with a bullet piercing his backpack. “Basically, I’ve been treated like a slave, carrying their stuff […]

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Malacañan: Ransom paid to ASG for Norwegian nat’l not from PHL gov’t

(Eagle News)– Malacañan clarified on Friday that the ransom paid in exchange for freedom of Norwegian national Kjartan Sekkingstad to Abu Sayyaf Group was not from the government. “I am not privy to that but I think it was also raised by third parties … Not from the government. Ransom not from the government,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella explained after President Rodrigo Duterte revealed the transaction on Thursday. “If that’s the one [Sekkingstad], then I […]

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Philippine militants release Filipina hostage: police

JOLO, Philippines (AFP) — A Filipina held hostage by a notorious kidnapping-for-ransom gang in the strife-torn southern Philippines was released from captivity Friday, police said, a week after her Canadian boyfriend was beheaded by the gunmen. Marites Flor was among four people abducted nine months ago by Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants based on remote and mountainous southern islands that have earned millions of dollars from kidnappings in recent years. Flor’s partner, Robert Hall, was murdered […]

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10 Indonesian hostages freed in Philippines: police

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) — Ten Indonesian sailors abducted by Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants were freed in the southern Philippines on Sunday after five weeks in captivity, Philippine police said. Unknown men delivered the 10 tugboat crewmen to the home of provincial governor Abdusakur Tan Jnr on the remote island of Jolo during a heavy midday downpour, Jolo police chief Junpikar Sitin told AFP by telephone. “The report (of their release) is confirmed. They were there. I […]

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Huwag ibigay ang hinihinging ransom – AFP

(Eagle News) — Patuloy na hinimok ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ang gobyernong nakasasakop sa mga nalalabing hostage ng bandidong Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) na huwag pagbigyan ang hinihinging ransom ng rebeldeng grupo kapalit ng kalayaan ng kanilang hostages. Sa kabila ito ng kamakailan lamang na pagpatay sa isa sa mga dayuhang bihag ng ASG. Matatandaang pinugutan ng ulo ng rebeldeng grupo ang Canadian na si John Ridsdel, isa sa apat na binihag ng […]

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Philippines: Five things to know about the Abu Sayyaf

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic militant group from the southern Philippines notorious for abducting foreigners, beheaded a Canadian hostage on Monday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “outraged” by the killing, and authorities were trying to free another Canadian still being held along with a Norwegian man and a Filipina. Here are five facts about Abu Sayyaf: Origins   The group is a radical offshoot of a Muslim separatist insurgency that has […]

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