RP in battle stance to rescue hostages
RP in battle stance to rescue hostages
Agence France-Presse, Zamboanga, Philippines
Philippine forces were on Monday poised to mount an offensive to rescue four Filipina Christians held hostage by gunmen linked to Abu Sayyaf rebels in the troubled southern island of Jolo, officials said.
The kidnappers, led by Moin Sahiron, a nephew of Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron, have been given until Tuesday to free four members of the Jehovah's Witness Christian group they seized last week.
Two Muslim guides traveling with the group were freed, but two others were beheaded in a grisly reminder that the Abu Sayyaf remains a threat despite U.S.-Philippine counter-terrorism operations that ended in the south last month.
Some 4,000 Marines, army scout rangers and counter-terrorism troops have been dispatched to track down and crush the Abu Sayyaf and its offshoot groups in Jolo, a lawless southern frontier where Moro outlaws have for centuries sought sanctuary.
Jolo army chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Tolentino said the gunmen and their captives were believed to be constantly moving in dense jungle to evade troops.
"Our troops are combing the jungle inch for inch, but the kidnappers are constantly on the run," said Tolentino from his command post on the island.
In Manila, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes called an Abu Sayyaf demand for a military pull-out "preposterous", but he also expressed hope ongoing negotiations to free the hostages led by local officials would be successful by the time the ultimatum ended on Tuesday.
"We're hoping it would succeed. We hope it will succeed, but we are poised and we will conduct operations against these kidnappers," Reyes told reporters.
"The government is not going to pull out (its troops from Jolo). The president has instructed us to go all out, get them and so that's what we're gonna do."
Armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Eduardo Purificacion said troops had located the general area where the gunmen were holding the hostages and an assault would be carried if talks to free the four failed.
Apart from the Filipino Christians, three Indonesian sailors kidnapped in June are also being held hostage by another group of armed men on Jolo.
Gunmen holding the Indonesians have demanded a ransom of 15 million pesos (US$288,461) in exchange for their freedom, which was rejected by authorities.
The Abu Sayyaf, or Bearers of the Sword, was formed in the early 1990s by Afghan-trained Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani ostensibly to fight for an independent Muslim state in the southern Philippines.
Over the years, the Abu Sayyaf deteriorated into banditry, often pillaging Christian villages and kidnapping foreign tourists, missionaries and even local businessmen for ransom.
The group kidnapped dozens of tourists in May last year, including three Americans.