UPDATE - 7 Indonesian sailors abducted off south Philippines

UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL COMMENTS, BACKGROUND

By Ainur Rohmah

TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) – Indonesia confirmed Friday that seven of its citizens were kidnapped from a tugboat off the Philippines’ troubled south in the latest hijacking in the Sulu Sea.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a press conference, “on the afternoon of June 23, we received confirmation that our citizens were taken hostage.”

Kompas.com also reported her as saying that six of the tugboat’s 13 crew members had been released after the hijackings off the island province of Sulu, and were headed back to Indonesia.

Sulu is a stronghold of the Daesh-affiliated Abu Sayyaf militant group, which had a role in a series of kidnappings that saw at least 18 Indonesian and Malaysian sailors abducted between April and June, and later released.

Marsudi said that in the latest incident, one group of assailants abducted three crew members Monday afternoon, before a second group snatched another four from the tugboat, which was towing a vessel carrying coal.

"Indonesia’s government strongly condemns the recurrence of its citizens being taken hostage by armed groups in the southern Philippines. The incident is the third time. This can not be tolerated," detik.com quoted her as saying.

"Indonesia’s government has decided to continue a moratorium on coal shipments, and will continue it until we get a security guarantee from the Philippines," underlined Marsudi, adding that 90 percent of the southern Philippines' coal needs were imported from Indonesia.

Dian Megawati, the wife of one of the abducted sailors, said her husband Ismail had contacted her Wednesday on the kidnappers’ orders, and told her to inform journalists, local polices, the Indonesian government and shipping firm PT PP Rusianto Bersaudara.

"At the end of the communication, my husband told me to be prepared for a 20 million ringgit [$4.8 million] ransom demand," kompas.com quoted her as saying.

On Monday, defense officials of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to conduct trilateral maritime and air patrols in the three countries’ maritime areas of common concern, particularly in the Sulu Sea, to beef up regional security and thwart criminal activities at sea.

The Sulu Sea is a popular route for cargo and passenger ships, with some vessels falling prey to pirates and kidnappers, while others use the route for smuggling.

Kidnap-for-ransom gangs also frequently operate in the island provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan.

They are known to hand over their captives to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the group.

The kidnappers use isolated sea-lanes and coastal areas to grab their victims, who are then held captive in isolated villages in the Mindanao island region.

Last week, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded a second Canadian hostage after a deadline set by the group for the delivery of a 600 million peso ($13 million) ransom was missed.

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

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.