Philippine troops yesterday rescued two Indonesian tugboat crewmen being held by Muslim militants on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, the military said.
Armed forces chief General Efren Abu told DZBB radio in Manila the military hoped to free a third Indonesian kidnapped by the gunmen in the next few days.
He said the hostages were freed after troops clashed with the gunmen at dawn on Jolo, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group of Islamic militants.
The three Indonesians -- Ahmad Resmiyadi, Yamin Labaso and Erikson Hutagaol -- were seized after their boat was attacked off Malaysia's Sabah region by a group calling itself the Jamiat al-Islamiah of Southern Mindanao.
The group is believed to be affiliated with the Abu Sayyaf, which in turn has been linked by the US and Philippine governments to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Labaso, 28, and Hutagaol, 23, were the two rescued, the military said.
Intelligence gathered since the abduction in March led troops to a "temporary encampment of the Abu Sayyaf group" late Saturday, the military said.
camp raided
A group of US-trained special forces raided the camp near the remote town of Indanan around dawn yesterday, the military said.
The two were taken to military brigade headquarters in Jolo where they were given a medical check-up and debriefing. They were due to be airlifted to the military's southern headquarters in the nearby port of Zamboanga where they were expected to meet Indonesian diplomats, the military said.
ransom demanded
Last month Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked President Gloria Arroyo for help in rescuing the three. Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said the militants had demanded a US$790,000-dollar ransom from the hostages' employer.
The Abu Sayyaf has been on the run from Filipino troops in the southern Philippines since 2000, when they made international headlines after abducting and ransoming off dozens of European hostages.
The rebels seized a group of Filipinos and three Americans from a Philippine resort island the following year. Two of the Americans were later killed.
Apart from kidnappings, the Abu Sayyaf is also blamed for the Philippines' worst terrorist bombings, including a firebomb on a ferry that killed more than 100 people in Manila Bay last year.
Security analysts have said that while the Abu Sayyaf may be on the run it could also be building links with foreign militants from the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror network who have sought refuge in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
Last week the Philippines' deputy national security adviser, Virtus Gil, said two Indonesians linked to the Bali bombings in 2002 had been spotted in Mindanao.
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