Philippine troops killed an Abu Sayyaf rebel commander blamed for years of ransom kidnappings and yesterday rescued the last of his four Indonesian captives, the military said.
Marines wounded Amajan Sahidjuan in a gunbattle on Saturday night and he later died from a loss of blood on Kalupag Island in the southernmost province of Tawi-Tawi. Two other militants managed to flee and dragged along the last of four Indonesian hostages, but troops finally rescued him yesterday, regional military commander Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan Jr said.
On Thursday night, three Indonesian men were rescued by police who also captured one of their Abu Sayyaf captors along shore of South Ubian town in Tawi-Tawi.
The military said the Abu Sayyaf militants led by Sahidjuan were fleeing assaults in nearby Sulu province when their speedboat was lashed by huge waves and overturned off Tawi-Tawi.
A military officer said the militants were attempting to cross the sea border to Tambisan Island in neighboring Malaysia’s Sabah state to release the captives in exchange for a ransom of at least 5 million pesos (US$103,457), but the military got wind of the plan and launched covert assaults.
The officer, who has a keen knowledge of anti-Abu Sayyaf operations, spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to speak publicly.
Vinluan said that the rescue of the Indonesian men, the last known hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf, would enable government forces to finish off the ransom-seeking rebels.
“It will just be relentless in a massive and focused military operation, because now we would not worry about kidnap victims getting hit,” Vinluan said by telephone.
Vinluan said there were about 80 Abu Sayyaf gunmen left in Sulu and outlying island provinces.
One of their remaining leaders, Radulan Sahiron, has fallen ill and was wounded in a recent offensive in Sulu, he said.
Sahidjuan, who used the pseudonym Apuh Mike, has been blamed for carrying out ransom kidnappings since the early 1990s.
He was reportedly among Abu Sayyaf militants who attacked the southern largely Christian town of Ipil in 1995, where they killed more than 50 people in one of their most audacious raids.
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