02 April 2016•Update: 08 April 2016
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines
Suspected members of a Daesh-linked group have abducted four Malaysians in the Celebes Sea just one week after kidnapping 10 Indonesians.
Western Mindanao Command Major Filemon Tan confirmed a media report on the kidnapping to Anadolu Agency on Saturday, but added that officials are still putting together details.
He refused to comment further.
The Star Online had earlier reported that the four men were selected from a Malaysian boat's eight-man crew and kidnapped by armed Filipino gunmen near Pulau Ligitan off Semporna in the east coast of Malaysia's easternmost state of Sabah on Friday night.
It said that eight Filipinos in a speedboat jumped on board the Malaysian registered vessel, MV MASFIVE 6 -- which was sailing near Pulau Ligitan in Tawau, Sabah, east of the island of Borneo, in the Celebes Sea.
The armed men are reported to have declared that they were members of the Abu Sayyaf -- which has reportedly pledged allegiance to Daesh -- and requested the victims go with them before speeding off with their captives towards Filipino waters.
The other crew -- three Myanmar nationals and two Indonesians -- were left unharmed.
There was no suggestion if the Malay nationals were singled out, or the hostage takers only took four of the men due to their own limited numbers.
The abduction occurred a week after the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 10 Indonesians working on a tugboat in the province of Tawi-Tawi and demanded 50 million pesos ($1 million) for their safe release.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release, many of who have been kidnapped from the sea lanes and islands that lie between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the southern Philippines.
