Special units hunting Sayyaf in kidnapping activities

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - - Highly trained and special forces have been pooled for the rescue mission of about 10 kidnap victims, including foreigners, being held by  different factions of the Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu, a senior military official revealed Saturday here.

The seven soldiers who died and 24 others who were wounded when they hit by a wayward mortar were members of the special forces from the Joint Special Operation Group (JSOG) that joined the rescue mission.

Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, Commander of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said the rescue operation is a joint effort of all units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Guerrero confirmed the rescue mission during his visit Saturday at the military hospital where he awarded medals and  distributed food to the 24 wounded soldiers.

“I could not divulge the units involved but nevertheless we are pooling our resources from the army, air force, and navy as well as the support of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Guerrero said.

Guerrero declined to discuss in details the units involved in the rescue mission but said that there is a continuing effort to stop the kidnapping and to ensure the rescue of the hostages.

“And we are trying our very best in different ways to get them out of the hands of the kidnappers,” he said.

“We want to take a serious look at this kidnapping business. We want to put a stop to this, otherwise we will see more of this if we will not do something about this,” Guerrero added.

Guerrero said that based on the information they received, there are about 10 hostages being held captive by the different factions of the Abu Sayyaf and most of the victims are foreigners. He did not elaborate.

Reports however said the Abu Sayyaf groups are believed to be holding captive two European bird watchers Elwold Horns and Lorenzo Vinceguerre; two Germans - Stefan Viktor Okonek, and Herike Diesen;  two Malaysians, and four Filipinos, who were separately abducted in 2012 and in May.

The victims are separately held by different factions of the Abu Sayyaf under Radullan Sahiron, Guerrero said.

Reports have also claimed that one of the Filipino captives -  Joselito Gonzales -  a construction laborer, was killed during the encounter Thursday.

Guerrero said they could confirm the report.

Guerrero said the heavy casualty they suffered was a result of the tactics of the Abu Sayyaf group which fired numerous rifle grenades and mortars in various directions, hitting the soldiers.

He said this tactic has been employed by the militants  in previous clashes  in Basilan and Sulu.

The military commander said that based on their information the munitions were secured by the Abu Sayyaf from various souces and bought using ransom proceeds the militants get from kidnapping activities.

Guerrero said they are tracing the sources to stop the bandits from acquiring weapons.

Meanwhile, the military reported that there was no displacement of civilians from Barangay Buhanginan in Patikul town because of the encounter.

Guerrero said they have coordinated with the provincial government, which assured them that the internally displaced persons (IDPs) would be taken care of. - Roel Pareño