Anti-sayyaf ops continue in South

PAGADIAN CITY – Security forces continue its operations against the PRO-ISIS group Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu, two of 5 provinces under the troubled Muslim autonomous region.

President Duterte has ordered the military to sustain the operations against the terrorist group so that government peace and development projects may not be impeded by the violent campaign of the Abu Sayyaf.

Just recently, Filipino troops rescued the last of three Indonesian fishermen kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf off Sabah in Malaysia last year. Muhammad Farhan, 27, was recovered in the village of Bato-bato in Indanan

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town last week after soldiers following intelligence reports tracked him down.

Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, said the intensive combat and intelligence operations launched by the military led to the rescue of Farhan. “Troops on the ground received information from the locals of Farhan’s whereabouts that led to the successful rescue,” he said.

Sobejana said the fisherman was brought to a military hospital for a medical examination before his transfer to the Camp Navarro General Hospital for further medical attention and custodial debriefing.

“We are very pleased with this remarkable accomplishment of our Joint Task Force Sulu. Our ground troops have succeeded in rescuing all remaining captives of the Abu Sayyaf group.”

“This proves that our sustained rescue efforts and security operations to run down and degrade Abu Sayyaf have been very effective. Hence, this breakthrough will be sustained to thwart kidnappings, dismantle the terror group to bring about peace and sustainable development in Sulu,” he said.

Last December, soldiers also rescued Farhan’s companions Samiun Maneu, 26, and Maharudin Lunani, 48, after a firefight with Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the restive Muslim autonomous region. But one soldier and a gunman were killed in the clash.

The trio was seized September 24 by masked gunmen on board a speed boat off Lahad Datu town, just several hours by sea from the Philippine border province of Tawi-tawi. The hostages had previously pleaded to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to buy their freedom in a video released by the Abu Sayyaf demanding P30 million ransoms.

In November, Special Forces soldiers and an elite Marine unit also rescued a kidnapped British man Allan Arthur Hyrons, 70, and his Filipina wife Welma Paglinawan following a clash with Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Sulu. The duo was recovered on Mount Piahan in Parang town after militants abandoned them to escape massive military operations.

The November 25 rescue of the Hyrons occurred 3 days after troops killed 5 militants and wounded four others in a firefight in the towns of Patikul and Indanan. Among those who perished was Sibih Pisih, an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader under Radulan Sahiron.

Pisih was being linked by the military to cross-border kidnappings in Sabah and Tawi-tawi province. He was also implicated in the mass murder of nearly 2 dozen civilians in Talipao town in 2014.

The Hayron couple was seized by 6 armed men on the night of October 4 shortly after they arrived at their resort in Alindahaw village in Tukuran town in Zamboanga del Sur province. The abductors dragged the victims to the coastline where a motorized boat was waiting and then escaped under cover of darkness.

A caretaker at the resort has confirmed that two of the suspects even rented a cottage. Aside from the resort, the couple also owns the Hyrons College in the town. The kidnappings occurred during an extended martial law in the South where security forces are battling Muslim extremist groups and communist rebels in the restive region. (Zamboanga Post and Mindanao Examiner)