A Filipino woman seized by Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf militant group along with two Canadians and a Norwegian in September last year in a resort on Samal Island in Davao del Norte has been released, the military said.
Maritess Flor, who is said to be a girlfriend of Robert Hall, the second Canadian to be beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants over a week ago in the jungles of Sulu, was freed on Thursday, June 23, said Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command.
"Kidnap victim Maritess Flor was already released . As of 241200H June 2016, she is in the JTF (Joint Task Force) Sulu custody for medical check up," Tan confirmed in a text message.
A reporter of Net 25, a Philippine television network owned and operated by Eagle Broadcasting Corporation who quoted an intelligence source, said that "per source, the ASG received the amount of P20 million as ransom for the captive's release."
But Tan neither confirmed nor denied whether a ransom was paid for the freedom of Flor.
The first Canadian captive John Ridsdel was beheaded on April 25 after their government refused to pay a P300 million ransom for his release.
Last June 13, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded Hall after a deadline set by the group for the delivery of a P600 million peso ($13 million) ransom was missed.
Flor's captive Norwegian companion, Kjartan Sekkingstad, is still being held by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants, according to Tan.
Apart from the Norwegian national, the Abu Sayyaf is still holding captive Dutchman Elwod Horn, one of the one of the two foreign wildlife photographers seized by the Abu Sayyaf in Tawi-tawi last 2012. Horn’s companion – Swiss Lorenzo Vinciguerra, escaped two years ago. Five Filipinos are also being held.
Kidnap-for-ransom groups are prevelant in the southern Philippines' Zamboanga Peninsula and the island provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan.
The Abu Sayyaf tagged by US State Department and Philippine authorities as a terrorist group, is particularly well-known for using kidnapping as a way to raise funds.
It has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines. MGP News
No comments:
Post a Comment