5 more Maranaw captives released

CAMP PENDATUN, Ma­guindanao, Philippines  – Armed ethnic Iranuns freed yesterday five more Maranaws they snatched in nearby Matanog, Maguin­danao last Thursday in retaliation for the abduction in Marawi City of one of their relatives.

Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police director, said the Iranun group, armed with assault rifles, released the five captives in Sitio Sarmiento in Barangay Langkong, Matanog town.

The captives, identified as Abdul Gauz, Abdulwahab Pandita, Ebrahim Musa, Zainal Cosain, and Camar Ali, all Maranaws from Lanao del Sur, were on their way to Marawi City on board a passenger van when armed men flagged them down along the Narciso Ramos Highway in Matanog town.

Two other Maranaws were earlier allowed to leave to relay the demand of the Iranun group.

The kidnappers are related to Harris Daud, an Iranun, who was seized by armed Maranaw men at the public transport terminal in Marawi City last Sept. 14.