Authorities deny fresh kidnapping incident of 4 Malaysians

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The military authorities denied Thursday the reported fresh kidnapping incident of four Malaysians in southern Philippines.

According to reports circulating, four Malaysians were allegedly brought to Tawi-Tawi and subsequently transferred to the nearby province of Sulu, where at least seven hostages, including two Americans, are being held captive by the Abu Sayyaf group.

“We heard about it, but we have it validated and there is no such incident and even the police who reported it could not confirm it,” Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said.

Tan said they have also validated the report with the Malaysian authorities and their counterpart in the country, which confirmed that such incident did not occur.

Malaysian and Philippine forces have recently intensified security in the common border in the south following the spate of kidnapping incidents of tourists, who include the four Malaysian sailors freed Wednesday last week.