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After Zambo abduction, UK reiterates travel warning to Mindanao


After the abduction of two Americans and one Filipino in Zamboanga City on Tuesday, the United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday reiterated its advice to its nationals to avoid travel to parts of Mindanao. In its advisory, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) cautioned against all travel to southwest Mindanao and Sulu and “all but essential" travel to other parts of Mindanao. “There is a threat from kidnapping in the Philippines, particularly in the southern Philippines. Kidnapping could occur anywhere, including on coastal and island resorts and dive boats and sites in the Sulu Sea," the UK said in its advisory updated on Wednesday (Manila time). "On 12 July two US citizens and a Philippine national were kidnapped from a resort on the island of Tictabon near the southern port city of Zamboanga," the advisory said. The advisory noted that ongoing terrorist and insurgent activity are still going on in parts of Mindanao. Citing reports from the Philippine Department of Tourism, the FCO said over 95,000 British tourists visited the Philippines in 2010. The FCO added there are also ongoing clashes between the military and insurgent groups in the Sulu archipelago including Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Jolo. “Most visits are trouble-free," it said. Zambo abduction On Tuesday, around 14 armed men kidnapped in Zamboanga City early Tuesday three people, including a naturalized American woman and her 14-year-old son, police said. According to a Reuters report, the gunmen stormed a beach house on Tictabon island, near the southern port city of Zamboanga, and took the three victims. City police chief Edwin de Ocampo told reporters 14 armed men in two boats arrived around 3 a.m. Tuesday and overpowered unarmed guards. They took Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, 50, her son Kevin Eric, and a nephew, Romnick Jackaria, 19. "We're still tracking down the gunmen and find out where they took their captives," de Ocampo said, adding the woman's husband, a German national, has been notified about the abduction. In an earlier interview on radio dzBB, De Ocampo said, "Ongoing ang hot pursuit operation ng kapulisan at military, ang Tictabon malapit lang din sa Basilan." The Lunsmanns are from Virginia and were on vacation with some relatives on the island. - with a report from Reuters, VVP, GMA News

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