3 dead, 2 hostaged in Basilan pirate attack
03/08/2009 | 11:49 AM
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Three people were killed while two others were taken hostage when pirates attacked a trawler off Basilan Island in Mindanao, a local government official said.
“We condemn this attack and the authorities are now searching for those taken by pirates," Basilan Vice Gov. Al Rasheed Sakkalahul said on Saturday.
Quoting police reports, he said the pirates opened fire at the fishing boat, boarded the vessel, and killed three crewmen late Thursday. The bodies of the slain crewmen were later recovered.
"We don’t know whether the two hostages are still alive or not," Sakkalahul said.
Sakkalahul said authorities recovered the trawler but found it emptied and stripped of important parts. He said he had ordered maritime police and the Marines to intensify patrols at sea following the pirate attack.
No group claimed responsibility for the hijacking, but the attacks on trawlers and fishermen are not uncommon at sea around Basilan, a known bailiwick of Abu Sayyaf terrorists and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.
In January, Abu Sayyaf gunmen intercepted a small boat carrying state teachers off Zamboanga City and seized the trio and brought them by boat to Basilan. - Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV
“We condemn this attack and the authorities are now searching for those taken by pirates," Basilan Vice Gov. Al Rasheed Sakkalahul said on Saturday.
Quoting police reports, he said the pirates opened fire at the fishing boat, boarded the vessel, and killed three crewmen late Thursday. The bodies of the slain crewmen were later recovered.
"We don’t know whether the two hostages are still alive or not," Sakkalahul said.
Sakkalahul said authorities recovered the trawler but found it emptied and stripped of important parts. He said he had ordered maritime police and the Marines to intensify patrols at sea following the pirate attack.
No group claimed responsibility for the hijacking, but the attacks on trawlers and fishermen are not uncommon at sea around Basilan, a known bailiwick of Abu Sayyaf terrorists and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.
In January, Abu Sayyaf gunmen intercepted a small boat carrying state teachers off Zamboanga City and seized the trio and brought them by boat to Basilan. - Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV
