Philippine government troops killed three Abu Sayyaf kidnappers and arrested seven others in a major anti-terrorist operation in the southern Philippines, the military said. The suspects holed up on the island of Umapoy were allegedly involved in the abduction of a group of Indonesian, Filipino and Malaysian resort workers from the nearby Malaysian state of Sabah last year. Marines and Navy Special Forces units raided the island, on the southeast edge of the Tawi-Tawi group near the sea border with Sabah on Tuesday following a tip-off that the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers had hid their hostages there for a time, task force commander Navy Captain Feliciano Angue said. Navy gunboats and attack helicopters sank two motorboats belonging to fleeing gunmen and intercepted at least one other vessel, he told reporters. The raiders recovered the bodies of three suspected Abu Sayyaf kidnappers and arrested seven others. The rest of the 50-odd group escaped at sea but pursuit operations are continuing, Angue said. The Abu Sayyaf, allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda network of Islamic militants, is deemed a “foreign terrorist organization” by the United States. The group has mounted spectacular kidnappings of American and European tourists and missionaries in the past. Full Story
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