One of the three foreign hostages of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu is suffering from illness and is only being carried by his captors as they seek to evade an ongoing military offensive.
A senior Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader revealed this yesterday, saying he got the information from a relative of one of the ASG leaders holding the hostages.
He identified the sick hostage as Canadian John Ridsel, said to be at least 60 years old.
“Abu Sayyaf members are only carrying him (Ridsel) because he has difficulty in walking due to his sickness,” the MNLF leader said.
Being potential sources of money, he said the gunmen are taking care of their captives but the conditions in the jungles of the province are just too much for the sick hostage. “Throw in the offensive, and you will get the idea,” he said.
The informant did not give details on the Canadian’s affliction.
The MNLF leader said the ASG is now constantly on the move to escape the military operations. He said they are led by ASG sub-leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan and are now in an area of Patikul municipality.
Kidnapped hostages of suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.
Meanwhile, Philippine security forces clashed with al-Qaeda-linked gunmen believed to be holding foreign hostages leaving one soldier and eight of the gunmen dead, the military said.
The clash occurred near Patikul town on the remote southern island of Jolo, where gunmen from the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf are believed to be holding two Canadian hostages along with a Norwegian and a Filipina.
Regional military spokesman Major Filemon Tan said that one soldier was killed and four wounded, but did not respond to queries about the status of the hostages thought to be held by the gunmen.
Eight of the around 100 attackers were also killed, Tan told reporters, adding that the militants belonged to an Abu Sayyaf faction led by Hajan Sawadjaan.
Abu Sayyaf last month released a video of two Canadian tourists, a Norwegian resort operator and a Filipina abducted in another area of the southern Philippines in September, and demanded P1 billion ($21 million) in ransom.
A Dutch bird watcher abducted in the southern Philippines in 2012 is also believed by the military to be held by the same group on Jolo.
Abu Sayyaf
Founded in the early 1990s with seed money from late Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, Abu Sayyaf gained international notoriety for kidnapping dozens of foreign tourists for ransom in the early 2000s.
