Philippines: $2 million ransom wanted for 5 Malaysians

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) - A Daesh-linked group has demanded 100 million pesos ($2 million) in ransom for five Malaysian sailors it has been holding since it snatched from a tugboat in the southern Philippines five months ago.

The five crewmen -- Mohd Ridzuan Ismail, 32; Tayudin Anjut, 45; Mohd Zumadil Rahim, 23; Fandy Bakran, 26; and Abd Rahim Summas, 62 -- were seized by the Abu Sayyaf in waters between the Malaysian province of Sabah and the Philippines Jolo Island in mid-July.

According to Malaysian media, the kidnappers are said to have demanded around RM8.8 million (100 million pesos) for their release.

The Star Online reported Thursday that the group was no longer relying on intermediaries, and instead dealing directly with the families of the captives for the ransom.

Quoting a Jolo-based anti-kidnapping activist, it said the gunmen were finding it more difficult to hold on to captives amid an intensifying military offensive by the Philippines army.

"The military is stepping up operations against the gunmen with skirmishes occurring about one kilometer [0.6 miles] from Jolo town," Octavio Dinampo was reported as saying.

"The gunmen could be finding it too slow to go through intermediaries and that was why they were contacting the families of the captives directly."

One of the men's wives has been quoted as saying that she has received direct calls from the gunmen who allowed her to speak to her husband.

There was no immediate statement from the Philippines military on the rebels’ demand, although it has repeatedly rejected calls for ransoms.

Major Filemon Tan Jr., Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command spokesman, said in a text message, however, that security forces were tracking the Abu Sayyaf to rescue the sailors.

Aside from Malaysians, the group is also holding a Dutchman, a Korean, around two dozen Indonesians and nine Filipinos in the troubled Mindanao region.

President Duterte has ordered an intensified military campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and other such groups operating in the Muslim south.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- 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.

It is one of two militant groups in the south who have pledged allegiance to Daesh, prompting fears during the stalling of a peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that it could make inroads in a region torn by decades of armed conflict.