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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippine police: Abu Sayyaf kidnaps 3 fishermen |
| 2011-03-22 |
| [Straits Times] A POLICE official says suspected Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in what they describe as their fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces in Basilan and in Zamboanga Peninsula were, by June 2003, believed to number less than 500, down from more than 1,000 a year earlier. Abu Sayyaf is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya... gunnies kidnapped the skipper and two other crew members of a fishing boat then called their company to demand ransom, in the latest reminder of the lingering danger of the battle-crippled terrorist group. Police Director Felicisimo Khu Jr. says the three were fishing with other crew members off southern Sulu province Saturday when Abu Sayyaf gunnies aboard a motor boat approached and kidnapped them at gunpoint. The gunnies called the captives' fishing company the next day, apparently to demand ransom. Mr Khu said Monday that the new kidnappings and a recent deadly bombing in Sulu indicate the danger posed by the gunnies despite their many battle setbacks and underscore the difficulty of fighting terrorism. |
| Posted by:Fred |