MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Philippine troops killed an Abu Sayyaf rebel commander convicted of years of kidnapping for ransom and rescued four of his Indonesian captives on Sunday, the military said.
Amazin Sahidjuan was injured by marines on Saturday night and later died of a blood clot on Kalupag Island in the southern province of Tawi Tawi. The other two militants managed to escape and dragged four Indonesian hostages to the last but were eventually rescued by soldiers on Sunday, said Regional Military Commander Lt. Gen. Corletto Vinlun Jr..
On Thursday night, three Indonesian men were rescued by police who caught their Abu Sayyaf kidnapper on the outskirts of the southern Yubian city of Tawi Tawi.
The army said the Abu Sayyaf militants, led by Sahidjuan, were fleeing the attack in nearby Sulu province when their speed boat was hit by heavy waves and overturned by Tawi Tawi.
A military official said the militants were trying to cross the maritime border on the island of Tambisan in neighboring Malaysia’s Sabah state to free hostages in exchange for a ransom of at least five million pesos (104,000), but the Philippine military handed over the plan and started secret. Attack.
An official with knowledge of the anti-Abu Sayyaf operation spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to a lack of public speaking authority.
Winluen said the last known hostages captured by Abu Sayyaf would be allowed to rescue Indonesian men to put an end to rebels seeking ransom from government forces.
“It will only be ruthless in a large-scale and centralized military operation because, now, we will not have to worry about the blows of the abduction victims,” Vinluen told reporters by telephone.
Vinulu said about 80 Abu Sayyaf gunmen remain in Sulu and the Outer Island Province. One of his remaining elderly leaders, Radulan Sahiron, fell ill and was injured in a recent operation at Sulu, he said.
Samidjuan, who uses the Nade de Guer apuh mic, has been convicted of kidnapping for ransom since the early 1990s. He was among the Abu Sayyaf militants who attacked the southern Christian town of Epil in 1995, killing more than 50 people after looting banks and stores and setting fire to the town center in one of their most heroic raids.
Abu Saif is a small but violent group that has been blacklisted by the Philippines and the United States as a terrorist organization for bombings, ransom kidnappings, and beheadings. Some of its groups have allied themselves with the Islamic State group.
Over the years military action, surrender and war obstacles have significantly weakened the terrorists but posed a threat to national security. In the poverty-stricken Muslim province of Sulu in most Roman Catholic nations, they have moved away from jungle camps and in recent years have set up security alarms in the area, kidnapping and targeting cargo ships in Malaysia’s coastal towns.
