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Philippine Abu Sayyaf militants free 2 Indonesian hostages

This handout photo taken on December 12, 2016 shows Indonesian hostages Mohammad Nazer (L) and Robin Peter (R) at a hospital in Zamboanga, Sulu province, in southern island of Mindanao. (Photo by AFP)

Daesh-linked terrorists in the Philippines have released two Indonesian hostages, after the militants came under pressure from the Philippine army.

The two were among seven Indonesian crewmen, who had been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf Takfiri terrorist group from a tugboat sailing in waters off the southern Philippines in June, said regional military spokesman Major Filemon Tan, on Monday.

Tan said the two were released to the leader of another militant group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and were handed over to a government official on Sulu island.

"Indonesian (hostages) Mohammad Nazer and Robin Peter were released by the (Abu Sayyaf) captors to MNLF Commander Tahir Sali ... after being pressured by non-stop operations of (military joint task force) Sulu and pressure by the MNLF," the military spokesman said in a statement.

They were undergoing medical checks and would later be turned over to Indonesian government representatives, the statement added.

The release came two days after the Philippine military engaged in clashes with the terrorist group, during which 10 militants were killed and three soldiers lost their lives.

Sulu, a remote archipelago known as the hideout of Abu Sayyaf and other militants, has long been a hotbed of sectarianism and terror activities in the south of the Philippines. The MNLF has accepted to engage in peace talks with the government and often acts as an intermediary for the release of Abu Sayyaf hostages in the Southeast Asian country.

According to the military, Abu Sayyaf militants are believed to be currently holding 18 foreign hostages, including one each from Germany and South Korea and several Vietnamese crewmen of a cargo ship, along with five Filipinos.

Philippine soldiers march on the field as they end their operation against terrorist groups in Butig Town on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on March 1, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Established in the early 1990s, Abu Sayyaf is listed as a terrorist group by both the United States and the Philippines. It was once regarded as an offshoot of al-Qaeda.

The ultra-violent terrorists, who pledged alliance to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the summer of 2014, have also been involved in other criminal activities, including rape and drug trafficking, in what they describe as their battle for an independent province in the Philippines.

The group mainly relies on kidnapping for its finances and many say its ideological and religious claims are meant to hide its focus on the lucrative business.

The loose criminal network of Abu Sayyaf, literally meaning “Father of Swordsmith” in Arabic, has reportedly diminished greatly in number after it lost over 800 militants since 2000, shrinking to a group of between 200 and 400 members, but it continues to survive on ransom and extortion.

The militants have been in constant clashes with Philippine forces across the troubled region in the past 25 years.

Since August, thousands of troops have been deployed to southern territories after Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a massive military operation against Abu Sayyaf. However, fierce resistance by the militants has made it difficult for the military to make any tangible breakthrough.


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