Abu Sayyaf beheads 3 captives in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Three siblings were kidnapped and executed by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits in a remote village near here, the military reported yesterday.

Initial reports identified the victims as brothers Rudy, 24; Wilson, 18; and their sister Rodalyn Mendoza, all residents of Barangay Sibulao here.

Their bodies were found decapitated when recovered by soldiers and villagers. Their heads were reported as still missing.

The siblings were earlier reported missing for three days after they were snatched by some 60 Abu Sayyaf bandits who reportedly landed in a coastal village here and proceeded to Barangay Sibulao.

Sibulao is located some 70 kilometers east in the interior mountain border between Zamboanga City and the towns of Sibuco and Sirawai in Zamboanga del Norte.

Armed Forces Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamco said the bodies of the siblings were found "in an advanced state of decomposition (which) bore signs of hacking on their upper extremities."

"The victims were taken hostage since June 24 and were later killed by the Abu Sayyaf," Kyamco told reporters after inspecting the grisly find with troops of the First Special Forces Battalion which helped in the recovery of the three decapitated bodies.

Police investigators led by Chief Inspector Alfredo Francisco said the victims could have been dead for four days after they were executed.

The decapitated bodies of the siblings were found dumped in the bushes after some villagers complained of the foul odor, police said.

Relatives and neighbors told investigators that the siblings were earlier forced by Abu Sayyaf gunmen to act as guides.

Troops have been conducting pursuit operations against the bandits since Tuesday after militiamen initially encountered the group and wounded one of the bandits.

Kyamko said they have been tracking down the bandits believed to be heading for the interior villages of Sibulao and Calabasa after they initially figured in an encounter with militiamen in coastal Sitio Mala.

The upland villages of Sibulao and Calabas are accessible by trekking the steep forested mountains of Sibuco-Sirawai-Siocon towns boundaries in Zamboanga del Norte where the military caught up the group of Aldam Tilao alias Abu Sabaya and rescued American missionary Gracia Burnham on June 7, 2002.

Gracia’s husband Martin and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap were killed during the bloody rescue attempt.

The military have been trailing the 60 Abu Sayyaf group who fled from Sulu and Basilan and headed to the mainland of Zamboanga peninsula.

It is not certain whether the bandits landed in the coastal island villages east of this city or in the coastline of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.

The latest abduction and killing comes despite recent government assurances that the Abu Sayyaf had been considerably diminished to only 400 bandits.

The Abu Sayyaf is known mainly for kidnapping foreigners and Christians in the Southern Philippines and then holding them for hefty ransom payments. They have also beheaded poor hostages who could not pay ransom.

The group has been linked by both Washington and Manila to the al-Qaeda network of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. – With Jaime Laude, AFP