Islamist militant group released 10 Indonesian hostages
Ten Indonesian sailors who had been held hostage by Islamist militant group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines were released Sunday, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo announced in a televised statement.
The hostages, who had been held since March 26, were in "good condition," and were expected to arrive in Jakarta on Sunday night, he said.
Widodo thanked the Philippines government and the various parties who helped secure the release of the hostages.
Four Indonesians were still being held, and the Indonesian government would continue to work to secure their release, he said.
Officials in Sulu province in the southern Philippines released photographs of the men having a meal after being released.
The sailors were abducted from the Brahma 12 tugboat and the Anand 12 barge in the waters off the southern Philippines in March. The barge was carrying 7,000 tons of coal.
A
person claiming to be a member of the Abu Sayyaf Islamist group
contacted the ship owners demanding a ransom, Indonesian officials said.
Ridsdel had been held hostage along with
three others since they were abducted from a resort in the southern
Philippines in September last year.
Militants kill Canadian hostage in the Philippines
The
others, Norwegian national Kjartan Sekkingstad, Canadian national
Robert Hall and Filipina Marites Flor remain in Abu Sayyaf's custody,
according to officials.
The violent extremist group seeks to establish an independent Islamic state on Mindanao, the southernmost major island of the predominantly Catholic Philippines.
Who are Abu Sayyaf?
The
Philippines military has made inroads in recent years in thwarting the
group's terrorist bombing campaigns, prompting a shift in focus by the
group to kidnappings for ransom.
Greg
Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the
Washington-based Center for Strategic International Studies, said last
week that "after about 15 years of a pretty harsh crackdown by the U.S.
and the Philippines, what they've basically become is a criminal group
made up of a few hundred who engage in extortion and kidnapping."
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