Philippines: Abu Sayyaf beheads Filipino hostage

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (AA) - Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorists have beheaded one of their Filipino kidnap victims in the troubled southern province of Sulu, a military official said Sunday.

Col. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Joint Task Force Sulu, identified the executed hostage as Noel Besconde, captain of FB Ramona 2, who was abducted last December along with three others in the waters off the Celebes Sea, local SunStar news website reported.

Sobejana said Besconde was beheaded Thursday by the Abu Sayyaf Group sub-leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan in the western part of Patikul town in Sulu.

The commander added that Joint Task Force Sulu troops were in the area where the execution occurred to retrieve the remains of Besconde.

Besconde's beheading came after military troops killed six Abu Sayyaf terrorists, including their leader, in an operation in the coastal town of Inabanga, Bohol last week.

Three soldiers and a policeman also died in the clash.

The Abu Sayyaf, who has been kidnapping foreigners and holding them for ransom in the jungles of Sulu, is known to behead hostages if its ransom demands are not met.

Last year, the group decapitated two Canadians in Sulu. More recently, in February, it beheaded a German hostage held for ransom.

The terrorist group is believed to still be holding several hostages, including Filipinos, Vietnamese, and a Dutch national.