British man and his wife are rescued from the Islamic State jihadists two months after they were kidnapped

The British embassy in Manila confirmed the rescue of Allan and Wilma Hyrons this morning.

UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the couple were ‘safe and well’, adding: ‘We worked closely with the Government of the Philippines on Alan and Wilma’s case over the last two months.

‘I am very grateful for their tremendous efforts. We are in particular grateful to their Armed Forces for their courage throughout a difficult operation which resulted in Alan and Wilma’s release.’

An unshaven Mr Hyrons and his wife were pictured having a meal at a military camp on Sulu island following their rescue today.

Sobejana, the lieutenant general, said the couple will undergo a medical checkup and will be interviewed by military officials.

The couple had been abducted by armed militants on the island of Mindanao on October 4.

Troops killed a ‘high-value’ but little-known Abu Sayyaf commander, Talha Jumsah, on Friday near Sulu’s mountainous Patikul town.

Soldiers also killed five Abu Sayyaf militants, including two commanders, on Sunday in a separate clash in Sulu.

Muslim separatists have led a decades-long insurgency in the south of the Catholic-majority Philippines, which has led to the death of tens of thousands of people.

While the government has negotiated peace with the largest group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, hardline factions allied with ISIS are not part of the accord.

ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of a Sunday mass in January at a Catholic cathedral on Jolo which killed 21 in the country’s worst attack in years.

Authorities blamed the bombing on Abu Sayyaf, which in part funds its violence with ransom payments.

Dutch birdwatcher Ewold Horn, who was kidnapped in 2012 in the southern Philippines, was killed in May during a firefight between his Abu Sayyaf captors and the military.

Source: Daily Mail