EDITORIAL - End this scourge

Remember Ewold Horn? Now the public does, for tragic reasons. The 59-year-old birdwatcher from the Netherlands was killed when an Army team clashed with about 30 of Horn’s Abu Sayyaf captors last Friday in Patikul, Sulu.

Security forces are still verifying if Radulan Sahiron, the one-armed Abu Sayyaf commander with a $1-million bounty on his head, was also fatally shot in the clash that killed his second wife Mingayan. Horn had reportedly tried to escape during the armed encounter, with Mingayan pursuing him.

Horn had gone to Tawi-Tawi together with fellow birdwatchers Ivab Sarenas of the Philippines and Lorenzo Vinciguerra of Switzerland. They were kidnapped on Feb. 1, 2012, but Sarenas managed to jump overboard as they were being ferried across the sea to Sulu. Vinciguerra managed to escape during a military operation against the bandits on Dec. 6, 2014. He said Horn was too weak at the time to join him in the escape.

Several attempts to rescue Horn failed, making him the longest-held captive of the Abu Sayyaf. The bandit group has lost a string of commanders, including Isnilon Hapilon who joined the Maute brothers in laying siege to Marawi City in 2017. Several presidents have promised to “crush” the Abu Sayyaf.

Yet the group, now linked like the Mautes to the terrorist Islamic State, continues to pose a serious threat to security in Mindanao. Abu Sayyaf activities can hold back gains in the peace process with Islamic separatists and derail development efforts in the newly created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The latest firefight in Sulu also claimed the lives of seven bandits and wounded eight soldiers. Scores of soldiers and policemen have died fighting the Abu Sayyaf. The conflict has kept Sulu and Basilan mired in poverty and underdevelopment. The wounding of more soldiers and the death of Horn should strengthen the resolve of security forces to put a decisive end to this scourge.