Troops pursuing Italian aid worker’s captors move deeper into Sulu jungle
AL JACINTO, GMANews.TV
04/22/2009 | 11:55 PM
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Filipino security forces tracking down an Italian Red Cross worker being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf in the southern province of Sulu have moved deeper into the jungle on Wednesday with orders to rescue the hostage.
Sulu Governor Sakur Tan said he has ordered soldiers and policemen to rescue Eugenio Vagni, the last of three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers seized by gunmen on January 15 in the town of Patikul where they inspected a humanitarian project at a prison facility.
“We cannot wait forever for the Abu Sayyaf to decide when to free Vagni," Tan said, adding, the safety of Vagni remains his top priority.
The Abu Sayyaf had released Filipino aid worker Mary Jean Lacaba on April 2 and police rescued Swiss national Andreas Notter on April 18 in the town of Indanan.
American troops stationed in Jolo Island in Sulu had been assisting the local military by providing intelligence about the Abu Sayyaf.
Filipino authorities said several Jemaah Islamiya militants, among them Mauiya and probably Dulmatin, Umar Patek and Zulkifli bin Hir, are believed to be with the Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding Vagni. The US offered bounties totaling as much as $18 million for the suspects’ capture.
Vagni is suffering from hernia and could hardly walk, Notter told authorities after his rescue. He said the Italian captive is ill.
Thousands of soldiers and policemen, including armed village guards, have surrounded a large area in Indanan’s jungle to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from escaping with their hostage.
The Abu Sayyaf had previously threatened to behead the hostages if security forces do not pull out from Sulu. The threat prompted the governor to put the island under a state of emergency and ordered a crackdown on suspected supporters of the militant group.
Police said fighting erupted on Wednesday in Talipao town, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, said Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim.
“Our forces clashed with another group of the Abu Sayyaf in Talipao. We have no immediate reports of enemy casualties," Kasim said.
Authorities have blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the spate of bomb attacks and kidnappings-for-ransom in Western Mindanao and in the provinces of Sulu and Basilan. In 2001, the group kidnapped three US citizens from a posh resort in Palawan province in the southwestern Philippines and brought them to Basilan, south of Zamboanga City where they beheaded one hostage. Another one was eventually shot dead during a rescue operation. - GMANews.TV
Sulu Governor Sakur Tan said he has ordered soldiers and policemen to rescue Eugenio Vagni, the last of three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers seized by gunmen on January 15 in the town of Patikul where they inspected a humanitarian project at a prison facility.
“We cannot wait forever for the Abu Sayyaf to decide when to free Vagni," Tan said, adding, the safety of Vagni remains his top priority.
The Abu Sayyaf had released Filipino aid worker Mary Jean Lacaba on April 2 and police rescued Swiss national Andreas Notter on April 18 in the town of Indanan.
American troops stationed in Jolo Island in Sulu had been assisting the local military by providing intelligence about the Abu Sayyaf.
Filipino authorities said several Jemaah Islamiya militants, among them Mauiya and probably Dulmatin, Umar Patek and Zulkifli bin Hir, are believed to be with the Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding Vagni. The US offered bounties totaling as much as $18 million for the suspects’ capture.
Vagni is suffering from hernia and could hardly walk, Notter told authorities after his rescue. He said the Italian captive is ill.
Thousands of soldiers and policemen, including armed village guards, have surrounded a large area in Indanan’s jungle to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from escaping with their hostage.
The Abu Sayyaf had previously threatened to behead the hostages if security forces do not pull out from Sulu. The threat prompted the governor to put the island under a state of emergency and ordered a crackdown on suspected supporters of the militant group.
Police said fighting erupted on Wednesday in Talipao town, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, said Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim.
“Our forces clashed with another group of the Abu Sayyaf in Talipao. We have no immediate reports of enemy casualties," Kasim said.
Authorities have blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the spate of bomb attacks and kidnappings-for-ransom in Western Mindanao and in the provinces of Sulu and Basilan. In 2001, the group kidnapped three US citizens from a posh resort in Palawan province in the southwestern Philippines and brought them to Basilan, south of Zamboanga City where they beheaded one hostage. Another one was eventually shot dead during a rescue operation. - GMANews.TV
