Seven Indonesian sailors have been kidnapped at sea in the southern Philippines, the Indonesian government said yesterday, the latest in a spree of abductions by armed gangs in the region.
The crew were towing a coal barge in the Sulu Sea on Monday when their tugboat was hijacked by armed groups, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said.
Seven sailors were taken hostage in two separate attacks on the vessel about an hour apart, Marsudi said, adding that the six other crew aboard the tugboat were left unharmed.
Photo: EPA
“The government will do everything possible to free these hostages,” Marsudi told reporters. “The safety of these seven Indonesian citizens is our priority.”
A spokesman for the ministry said he could not confirm whether a ransom demand had been made, or if the Philippine-based militant group Abu Sayyaf was responsible for the abductions.
Earlier this year the group kidnapped four Malaysian seamen and 14 Indonesian sailors, holding them in their stronghold in the southern Philippines. They were freed several months later, but there was no information on whether a ransom was paid.
A spokesman for the Philippine government said it was working to verify the report.
If confirmed, it would be the third kidnapping of Indonesian sailors this year.
The defense ministers of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed this week to consider coordinated steps, including possible joint patrols to tackle a wave of seaborne crime in the Sulu and Celebes seas, which together form a key waterway among the three countries.
Abu Sayyaf, a band of Muslim militants, is highly active in the region and specializes in kidnappings-for-ransom.
The group has beheaded two Canadian hostages this year after their ransom demands were not met.
A Filipina held hostage by the group was released from captivity yesterday, Philippine police said, a week after her boyfriend was one of those beheaded.
Marites Flor was among four people abducted nine months ago by Abu Sayyaf.
Flor’s partner, Robert Hall, was murdered after a ransom deadline lapsed last week and following a similar killing of the other Canadian hostage, John Ridsdel, in April.
Flor was freed in Sulu, a remote archipelago known as a hideout of the militants, police chief Wilfredo Cayat told reporters.
Cayat did not give details on the circumstances of her release, except that she was dropped off outside the house of local politician Abdusakur Tan on Jolo, the main island in Sulu.
“She was released early morning somewhere in the province of Sulu and brought to the governor’s house. I have no idea if ransom was paid,” Cayat said.
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