Four Indonesians had been held by group notorious for kidnapping for ransom for more than a year.
Philippine troops have killed a leader of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group and rescued four Indonesian hostages – one aged just 15 – who had been held for more than a year, the military said on Sunday.
Majan Sahidjuan, alias Apo Mike, was severely wounded in an exchange of gunfire with the marines on Saturday night in Languyan town in southern Tawi-Tawi province, and later died, said Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan Jr.
He described Sahidjuan as the mastermind in several kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf, which is based in Sulu and has also been involved in bomb attacks and piracy for decades. Since 2014, it has proclaimed allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group.
“We are happy that all the hostages are safe now and we are also able to neutralise the notorious ‘Apo Mike’ and two of his comrades,” said Vinluan, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command.
Sahidjuan was among five members of Abu Sayyaf who went to Tawi-Tawi by boat from Sulu, with their four Indonesian kidnap victims last Thursday.
Their boat capsized after it was battered by big waves, giving government troops the chance to rescue three of the four hostages – Arizal Kasta Miran, 30; Arsad Bin Dahlan, 41; and Andi Riswanto, 26.
The fourth, 15-year-old Mohd Khairuldin, was found by government troops in the same village where the gun battle took place.
The four hostages were among five Indonesians kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf on January 17 last year off Tambisan in Malaysia. One of the five was killed while trying to escape.
