On Tuesday, authorities from Indonesia reported the abduction of 10 of its citizens after their crew was taken by storm when armed assailants boarded two ships in Philippines’ waters. Indonesian officials credit the kidnapping of the boats’ crewmembers to an Islamic team of assailants, as the militant group known as Abu Sayyaf has supposedly contacted the owner of the ships.
An announcement released by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry confirms that the ship owner was asked for a ransom before being able to retrieve the crew from the tugboat that was hauling a coal barge. It’s worth noticing that waters between the Philippines and Indonesia are considered most treacherous because the so-called “pirates” prefer this location to intercept vessels.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Retno Marsudi, gave all the details from the incident happened earlier this week, including the specific location where the ship was intercepted, near Tawi-Tawi province. Even though the waters between the border regions are considered far too dangerous, some shipments can’t avoid passing through the area known for its risks.
The 10 Indonesian citizens have not been confirmed to be safe and sound, as the ship where they were held hostage, the coal barge, remains to be found. Indonesian authorities could retrieve the tugboat, however, as it was eventually released according to the statement from Marsudi.
It’s only a matter of time for the militant group to either obtain their ransom money or start killing hostages. In order to prevent this from happening, the Philippines military has taken action.
Philippine joins forces to rescue Indonesian hostages
Indonesia’s bordering country found from reliable sources that Indonesian hostages could have been taken to the Sulu’s province in the Philippines. Courageously for the Philippines, it’s not wasting its time as military troops appeared to be called upon to deal with the militant group holding members of the ship’s crew captive.
As a response to the militant group Abu Sayyaf for kidnapping 10 Indonesian citizens, Philippines is making sure to address the problem that has jumped over to its Sulu’s province. The military task forces have already begun its plans to locate the Indonesians as well as trying to stop the Islamic assailants involved in the kidnapping.
The assailants, however, released a video recently on Facebook where a deadline is given for the ransom. The deadline is set to April 8, but the location and safe extraction of the hostages are expected to take place sooner than that.
Hopefully for the hostages, the Philippines military has what it takes to save them, considering the government has a no-ransom policy and it’s not willing to deal with terrorists.
Source: CBS