Zamboanga City:Suspected IS-linked gunmen have taken three Indonesians from a fishing vessel in the Sulu Sea, in the southwestern Philippines, the military said yesterday.
Maj Gen Carlito Galvez Jr, newly assumed chief of the Western Mindanao Command, confirmed the abduction of three foreign fishing vessel crewmen off Sulu.
He said they were taken by Abu Sayyaf on Thursday, the same day soldiers rescued two Filipino hostages from their captors in the town of Indanan.
Lt Col Raphael Alano, WesMinCom’s acting spokesperson, citing the Indonesian Police Attache list, said the three were among six crew members of a Sandakan-registered fishing vessel who were initially reported missing after an attack by gunmen along the Philippine-Malaysian sea border.
"The Indonesian authorities called up us here to verify the abduction of three Indonesian crew members in the waters of Sulu," he said.
Last year, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte forged an agreement with his Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts allowing their navies to enter Philippine waters to capture pirates that kidnap ships and tourists.
