3 Indons’ kidnappers escape military cordon

ZAMBOANGA CITY (AFP) – Muslim kidnappers holding hostage three Indonesians have escaped a military cordon in Sulu following clashes that left eight soldiers and 14 gunmen dead, military sources said yesterday.

The sources said the kidnappers fled from the town of Luuk and were last seen heading towards the island’s eastern coast.

The gunmen are led by Abdulmuin Sahiron, a relative of Abu Sayyaf chief Radullan Sahiron. The elder Sahiron has been holding Indonesian sailors Pieter Lerrech, Julkipli, and Muntu Jacobos Winowatan hostage.

The Indonesians were seized from their coal barge in June in southern Philippine seas.

The younger Sahiron’s group is holding four Filipina Jehovah’s Witness evangelists abducted while selling cosmetics in nearby Patikul town in August.

Two male companions of the hostages were beheaded days after the kidnapping, and their heads were dumped in a nearby public market.

The military last week launched a massive operation involving at least 4,000 troops to rescue the hostages and crush the Abu Sayyaf force on Jolo, said to number in the few hundreds.

Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua, chief of the military operations in Sulu, refused to confirm that the kidnappers had escaped, but acknowledged that the gunmen may try to head to the town of Kalingalan Calaung on Jolo’s eastern coast.

Sua declined to elaborate, saying it would jeopardize ongoing rescue efforts.

"There are continuing efforts to rescue them and at the same time troops were pursuing the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo," Sua said.

Military officials said two days of clashes that began Friday had left eight soldiers dead and 14 others wounded.

Fourteen Muslim gunmen, either belonging to the Abu Sayyaf or another group, were killed in the firefight, military reports said.

Meanwhile, Southern Command (Southcom) chief Gen. Ernesto Carolina said the bandits who kidnapped the evangelists have merged with the Abu Sayyaf.

Carolina added that the Abu Sayyaf has split into two groups, with the younger Sahiron’s group holed up in Mt. Tungkol, another known Abu Sayyaf lair.

Carolina added that his men are still gathering information on whether Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janjalani was part of the Abu Sayyaf group that engaged the military in a skirmish last Friday.

The military is confirming reports that the younger Sahiron died after being seriously wounded in the fierce gun battle between soldiers and his group.

Military intelligence sources said the younger Sahiron’s death may have prompted his band to turn the female hostages over to the Abu Sayyaf.

The military sources also said the Abu Sayyaf may be using these female hostages as human shields to keep their military pursuers at bay. – With Roel Pareño, Christina Mendez