Philippines: Daesh-linked militants abduct 3 in south

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – The Philippines military confirmed Sunday that a married couple and their companion were abducted by members of a Daesh-linked militant group in the latest kidnapping in the country’s troubled south.

A Western Mindanao Command spokesman said in a statement that a telecommunication technician, his wife and their companion were riding a vehicle when gunmen snatched them Saturday in Patikul town in Sulu province – an Abu Sayyaf stronghold.

"The trio was forcibly taken going to the direction of Kaban-kaban settlement," Major Filemon Tan said.

The vehicle of the victims was later recovered by lawmen, who are conducting rescue operations.

According to Tan, the military has yet to determine if the kidnappers have made any ransom demands.

"It will all start from intelligence gathering. We cannot just deploy troops, conduct strike operations, with us knowing the particular area where they are hiding. We have an ongoing intelligence build-up," Tan underlined.

He said that the number of hostages believed in Abu Sayyaf captivity in Sulu had reached 27 -- 17 of them foreigners including a Dutch national seized in 2012 and a Norwegian abducted in September.

Earlier this year, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded two Canadian hostages kidnapped alongside Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad after ransoms failed to be paid. It has threatened to decapitate Sekkingstad if a P300-million ($6 million) ransom demand is not met.

On Friday, a kidnap-for-ransom gang believed to be linked to the Abu Sayyaf snatched a couple and their 8-year-old son from their home in Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Since 1991, the group -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf is among two militant groups in the Philippines south who have pledged allegiance to Daesh, prompting fears during the stalling of a peace process that Daesh could make inroads in a region torn by decades of armed conflict.