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| Southeast Asia |
| 1000+ soldiers to help Abu Sayyaf hostages in Mindanao |
| 2014-09-29 |
| The Philippine military said on Sunday it deployed an estimated 1,000-plus extra soldiers to Mindanao on Sunday to increase security after Islamic militants threatened to kill one of two German hostages. An army brigade was flown to the Sulu island group, where the Abu Sayyaf rebels are believed to be holding the two German tourists, the military said in a statement. Two other army battalions meanwhile deployed in nearby southern areas. The statement said, "This is a redeployment that is part of an ongoing plan which is anchored on our mandate to address internal and external security situations." The reinforcements will allow Philippine marines who have been fighting the Abu Sayyaf "to concentrate on their main tasks", military spokesman Major Calixto Cadano said. The statement said all three units that were sent to the south had come from the northern Philippines where security officials said a long-running communist insurgency has largely dwindled. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had announced on Friday that, to "stop the Abu Sayyaf once and for all", army troops will be dispatched to Sulu to help the marines there. Gazmin has announced the Philippines would not negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf over its demands for around $5.62 million in ransom. He also downplayed alleged links between the group to Islamic State jihadists fighting in Iraq and Syria. |
| Posted by:ryuge |