Military on alert after abduction of 2 Indonesian fishermen in Sabah

September 12, 2018

The military troops in Southern Mindanao were alerted following the reported abduction of two Indonesian fishermen off the waters of Semporna in Sabah on Tuesday.

“We are still waiting for the update if there are entry or not so the troops of (Joint) Task force IndoMalPhi in Tawi-Tawi was alerted and the naval forces in western Mindanao. If it’s true we are on guard,” Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) spokesman said Wednesday.

Besana said the military already received a sketchy report about the abduction incident.

“We have information but it is still sketchy… the report is not yet validated, it was just called to us, although we have the identity, until now we do not know yet their whereabouts,” he said.

Report from the The Star Online, a Malaysian news agency, said that the victims identified as Samsul Sagunim, 40, and Usman Yunus, 35, were abducted within their fishing vessel by two masked men believed to be armed with M16 rifles around 1 am last Tuesday.

The report also said that the two other fishermen were able to hide from the compartment of their vessel during the abduction.

The witnesses could not determine if the abductors fled towards the Philippine or Malaysian waters. However, the authorities were investigating the possible involvement of the Filipino terrorists and criminal group based in Southern Philippines on the kidnapping incident. Robina Asido/DMS