Abu Sayyaf terrorists beheads 7 abducted loggers

While attention is now concentrated on the Marawi City siege, members of the Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf terror group again went on a rampage, beheading seven loggers they had abducted a week earlier on the island province of Basilan.

Colonel Juvymax Uy, the head of the Joint Task Force Basilan, reported they recovered two of the beheaded victims – a father and son – in a remote village in the town of Lintawan, Basilan on Saturday.

The remains of the five other victims were recovered in a separate village also in the town of Lintawan the next day on Sunday, Uy said, adding the victims were already in an advanced state of decomposition.

“It’s an unfortunate incident. The military did its best to rescue the victims,” Uy said as he pointed out the beheadings indicated the a “desperate move” by the Abu Sayyaf following the surrender of their followers due to the intensified military campaign against them.

Citing initial reports, Uy said the terrorists first abducted Nestor Divinigracia, 50, and his son Illy, 25, who were employed by a logging company in the town of Maluso on July 20.

While fleeing, Uy said the terrorists seized along the way the five other loggers until their beheaded and decomposing bodies were found.

He added the terrorist are still holding five construction workers they had kidnapped from a public school in the town of Patikul, Sulu last July, in addition to 16 other hostages, consisting of foreigners and Filipinos.

Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) appealed to Basilan residents to help stop the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan where they operate with impunity along with neighboring Sulu.

“This should not divide us. Let us stand united to end this problem,” Hataman stressed. Basilan and Sulu are component provinces of ARMM along with Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has pledged allegiance to the Daesh extremists in the Middle East, is also linked to the siege of Marawi, the capital city of Lanao del Sur, where heavy fighting continues more than two months after their attack on May 23.

Regional and Filipino security experts have also confirmed the link of the Abu Sayyaf to the global Al Qaeda terror network through the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah extremists.

Source: Gulf Today