ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Abu Sayyaf bandits were behind the recent kidnapping of five Indonesian fishermen in the waters off Lahad Datu in Sabah, the military has confirmed.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Western Mindanao Command chief, yesterday said the kidnap victims were brought to Sulu, citing a speedboat recovered during clearing operations following an airstrike on Sulare Island in Parang town on Saturday.
Sobejana said the airstrike was launched when the suspected kidnappers were monitored on the island.
He said two kidnappers identified only as Bong and Melbi were killed in the military offensive.
Sobejana said Bong reportedly replaced the Muktadil brothers, who led kidnappings off the coast of Malaysia.
He said government troopers were deployed in the area immediately after their Malaysian counterparts alerted them about the kidnapping.
”The victims were snatched at 3 p.m. The information was relayed to us at 6 p.m... There was a three-hour gap... The bandits and their captives had entered the area,” Sobejana said.
He said soldiers are checking if the captives were brought to the island or handed over to other groups and brought to the mainland.
“We wanted to rescue them without harm,” Sobejana said.
The kidnapping occurred a day after an Indonesian fisherman seized from a fishing vessel also of Lahad Datu last September was rescued. Soldiers rescued his two companions last month.
New deadline
Meanwhile, March 30 is the new deadline set by the military to neutralize Abu Sayyaf bandits.
Sobejana said the date was agreed during a yearend security assessment briefing held at Camp Aguinaldo recently.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and the heads of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process attended the briefing.
Sobejana said more soldiers would be deployed to neutralize the remaining 300 Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu and Basilan.
President Duterte had earlier said he wanted the bandits crushed by the end of 2019.