Military rescues doctor abducted by Abu Sayyaf
MANILA: A medical doctor held hostage for more than 50 days after he was kidnapped by members of the Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf terror group was rescued by government forces in a “barangay” (village) on the island province of Sulu in Mindanao, a ranking military official confirmed on Thursday.
Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, the chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command ( Westmincom), identified the physician as Dr. Daniel Moreno, who scampered for safety followng a clash between Army soldiers and the terrorists in a village in the town of Indanan, Sulu on Tuesday night.
Sobejana said the Army soldiers clashed with the terrorists after they were ordered to check on the presence of heavily-armed Abu Sayyaf members in the village reportedly with some of their hostages.
Sobejana quoted Moreno as saying that at the height of heavy fighting, a terrorist who was guarding him left, giving him the chance to make good his dash for freedom.
The military said members of the Abu Sayyaf that pledged allegiance to the Daesh extremists in the Middle East abducted Moreno 50 days ago on Feb. 4 from his clinic in the capital town of Jolo, Sulu.
Moreno was kidnapped to treat Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan who was reportedly suffering from tuberculosis, the military said, adding the terrorists also demanded a ransom of $60,000 for his release.
With Moreno’s rescue, Sobejana said they were determined to rescue the five Indonesian fishermen still in the custody of the terrorists the terrorists whom they kidnapped off the island state of Sabah in Malaysia on Jan. 17.
The Abu Sayyaf, “meaning bearer of the sword,” has gained notoriety through a spate of of kidnap-for-ransom cases since the early 2000s that were marred by the beheading of their foreign and Filipino hostages.
Regional and Filipino security experts earlier reported they have established the link of the Abu Sayyaf to the global Al Qaeda terror network through the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah extemists.