Gunmen holding three foreigners and one Filipina hostage slipped past a naval cordon and escaped to remote mountains in the southern Philippines, leaving few clues to their identities, police said Wednesday.
Elite army troops were trying to track the bandits while air force helicopters were readied for a possible rescue as the gunmen trekked into Davao Oriental province, a hotbed of Maoist and Islamic rebels, said Senior Superintendent Aaron Aquino, the region's deputy police commander.
The gunmen seized the Norwegian manager of a luxury island resort on Monday night, along with two Canadian tourists and one of their local girlfriends. The victims were aboard yachts anchored at the resort's marina.
The abductions added to a string of kidnappings of foreigners and locals in the conflict-plagued south since the 1990s, which have been typically carried out by Islamic militants seeking to extort ransoms.
"Rest assured, our security sector will not stop until they catch this group," President Benigno Aquino told reporters.
The president's assurance echoed comments made by the nation's leaders whenever a foreigner has been kidnapped, but the captives' releases have generally only been secured with ransom payments.
Adding to concerns about the captives, police said Wednesday the gunmen had evaded a naval blockade around Samal island, where the abductions took place.
The gunmen had sailed about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east to Davao Oriental, a poor region on the far southeastern edge of Mindanao island close to Indonesia with remote mountains and isolated fishing communities.
"Our scout rangers are following their tracks. They are on their trail. The air force is also helping, ready for insertion," Aquino, the police commander, told DZBB radio.
He said "intelligence" sources had informed police that the gunmen reached Davao Oriental on Tuesday night, but he acknowledged authorities still did not know the gunmen's identities or motives.
"We are waiting for contact from the kidnappers so we will know their demands," he said.
Canadian tourists John Ridsdel, 68, and Robert Hall, 50, were among those abducted, police said.
The other foreigner was the Norwegian resort manager, Kjartan Sekkingstad, 56, and the local woman was Hall's 40-year-old Filipina girlfriend, identified only as Tess.
Chilling footage
Chilling footage from the resort's surveillance cameras emerged on Wednesday showing the gunmen walking their hostages along a jetty at the marina.
In the footage, broadcast by local television networks, a shirtless and bearded male hostage was seen shaking off the grip on his arm of one of the rifle-wielding men, but still not daring to try and run away.
The three others appeared to have been hauled from their beds, with one male hostage shirtless and with a blanket wrapped around his waist. The woman walking next to him was in a night gown.
Investigators said they were looking at the possible involvement of communist guerillas or Islamic rebels excluded from a peace treaty signed in 2014 with the government, according to police.
Communist and Islamic rebels have been waging decades-long struggles that have claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The impoverished southern Mindanao region, including Davao Oriental, has proved fertile recruiting grounds and sanctuary for both groups.
Police commander Aquino said he doubted the involvement of the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic militant group responsible for the bulk of the kidnappings-for-ransom of foreigners since the early 1990s.
The outriggers used to storm the marina on Samal island were not a "signature" of the Al-Qaeda-linked group, because it typically used high-speed boats, he said.
Nevertheless, armed bandits have in the past kidnapped foreigners and sold them to the Abu Sayyaf, which only has a few hundred armed followers but has withstood a 15-year, US-backed military campaign against it.
In its most recent kidnapping, the Abu Sayyaf boasted getting 250 million pesos ($5.4 million) for the release of a German couple that it held for six months last year on its southern stronghold of Jolo island.
The Abu Sayyaf is currently holding four other foreigners -- a Dutch man, a Korean and two Malaysians, according to the military.
AFP
Wed Sep 23 2015
Photo shows Norwegian employee Kjartan Sekkinstad (L), 56, and Canadian tourists John Ridsdel (C), 68, and Robert Hall (R), 50, the three foreigners who were kidnapped. - AFP pic
Chegubard didakwa di Mahkamah Sesyen KL esok - Peguam
Badrul Hisham Shaharin atau dikenali Chegubard akan didakwa di Mahkamah Sesyen Kuala Lumpur esok atas pertuduhan memfitnah dan menghasut.
Pulau Pinang, kerajaan pusat bekerjasama tarik pelaburan semikonduktor
Kerajaan Pulau Pinang akan bekerjasama dengan Kerajaan Persekutuan untuk meneruskan usaha menarik pelaburan dalam sektor semikonduktor, termasuk segmen reka bentuk litar bersepadu (IC) di negeri itu.
Rakyat Malaysia di Jordan jadi duta produk PMKS negara
Menteri Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi Datuk Ewon Benedick menyarankan rakyat Malaysia yang menetap di Jordan supaya memainkan peranan sebagai “duta” untuk mempromosikan produk perusahaan mikro kecil dan sederhana (PMKS) SERTA koperasi negara.
Mohamed Khaled tiba di Indonesia, dijadual bertemu Prabowo
Menteri Pertahanan Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin tiba di Jakarta hari ini untuk lawatan kerja rasmi sulung beliau ke Indonesia sejak memegang jawatan itu.
SPRM mohon maklumat dari Jerman
Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) memohon maklumat terkini daripada pihak berkuasa Jerman mengenai dana bon 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) yang dipercayai digunakan untuk membeli kereta mewah di negara itu pada 26 Okt 2022.
SPRM siasat pemimpin kanan di utara tanah air
Seorang pemimpin kanan di utara tanah air disiasat Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) kerana disyaki melantik beberapa syarikat yang mempunyai kepentingan dengannya membabitkan beberapa projek pembekalan melibatkan peruntukan kira-kira RM300,000.
Kembangkan kandungan tempatan melalui AI
Menurut Setiausaha Agung Organisasi Kerjasama Digital (DCO) Deemah Al Yahya, terdapat 2.7 peratus daripada penduduk dunia tidak berhubung malah tidak mempunyai sambungan asas internet. Beliau turut berkata infrastruktur pengkomputeran setiap negara perlu mempunyai kemampuan untuk mengembangkan kandungan tempatan khususnya yang melibatkan penggunaan AI.
AI tidak dapat ganti guru
Menteri Pendidikan Rwanda, Gaspard Twagirayezu berkata kepesatan teknologi AI dalam pendidikan tidak dapat menggantikan guru malah membantu guru dalam menyediakan bahan pengajaran yang bermanfaat kepada pelajar.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Ahad, 28 April 2024.
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Dunia perlukan persaingan sihat dalam transisi ke Orde Baharu - Menteri Luar Arab Saudi
Menteri Luar Negeri Arab Saudi, Putera Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud berkata dunia memerlukan persaingan sihat dalam transisi daripada Orde Dunia Lama kepada Orde Baharu. Jelasnya, persaingan ini akan memberi manfaat dalam bentuk kos pengeluaran lebih rendah, perkembangan inovasi dan pelaburan lebih baik. #MesyuaratKhasWEF #WEF