Armed group snatch 3 foreigners in Philippines south
Date
9/22/2015 8:36:53 AM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Unidentified gunmen kidnapped three foreigners and a Filipina overnight from an island resort in the southern Philippines.
Army Capt. Alberto Caber spokesperson for Eastern Mindanao Command identified the four Tuesday as a Norwegian two Canadians and a Filipina.
He said a number of armed men aboard a motorboat arrived at the Ocean View Resort on Samal Island before 11 p.m. (1500GMT) Monday then went door-to-door and snatched all of the occupants.
"Some of them headed to the yacht knocked and forcibly herded the victims to their boat before speeding off” an unnamed army spokesperson told Anadolu Agency in a text message on Tuesday.
Sup't. Lito Impas of Samal Island police told reporters that the gunmen had initially taken five foreigners but a Canadian and his Japanese wife were able to jump and swim to safety from the kidnappers' boat.
The couple are now confined to a hospital on the island he added.
He said the Norwegian victim is the manager of the resort while the Filipina is the wife of one of the Canadian men.
Before leaving with their hostages the kidnappers left the message: "We offer these to our commander" at locations around the resort.
The police chief said he suspects that the kidnappers could be members of the New People's Army -- the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines - -or a local bandit group called the Bangsamoro Army a mixture of breakaway members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front.
The MILF is currently involved in a peace treaty with the Philippines government.
Operations are ongoing to locate the kidnappers and their victims.
The local coast guard and police are also conducting pursuit operations according to Impas.
By Hader Glang
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