Abu Sayyaf extremists have beheaded a kidnapped Filipino villager after a ransom deadline lapsed in their first such brutal act under President Rodrigo Duterte, who ordered troops to destroy the militants.
Regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan said yesterday the militants killed Patrick James Aldovar on Wednesday afternoon near southern Sulu province’s Indanan town then later abandoned his head in a neighborhood.
Tan said the 18-year-old Aldovar, who was seized by the militants July 16 in Sulu’s main Jolo town, was decapitated after his family failed to pay ransom.
After learning about the beheading, Duterte lumped the militants among “the enemies of the state” he wanted dead, ordering government troops: “Drug dealers, destroy them. Abu Sayyaf, destroy them. Period.”
Thousands of reinforcement troops were being flown by C130 cargo planes to Sulu and nearby Basilan island to help in an ongoing offensive against the militants, Tan said.
The Abu Sayyaf has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the Philippines for deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.
The militants are still holding several foreign and local hostages in their jungle bases, including Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, who was kidnapped along with two Canadian men and a Filipino woman from a southern marina in September last year. The Canadians were beheaded after huge ransom demands were not met and the woman was freed before Duterte assumed the presidency on June 30. AP
Indonesia finds ship that was taken by disgruntled crew
Indonesia’s navy said yesterday it has located a fuel tanker that was missing for a week after being taken from port by its disgruntled crew.
The navy said in a statement that the MT Vier Harmoni with 10 Indonesian crewmen was found off West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo.
The 53-meter (175 foot) long coastal tanker is being escorted to Tanjung Pinang, the provincial capital of Indonesia’s Riau islands, for further investigation.
Vier Abdul Jamal, chief executive of the ship’s owner Vierlines Asia Group, said there was a dispute between the charterer of the vessel and the crew when a promise of bonus payments was unfulfilled.
The tanker disappeared from a port in southern Malaysia on August 16 and authorities there initially suspected it had been hijacked by pirates. Its tracking device had been turned off.
The navy said it deployed warships, a maritime patrol plane and a helicopter to find the tanker, which was carrying about 900,000 liters of diesel. AP
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