SULU – Special Forces soldiers and an elite Marine unit have rescued a kidnapped British man and his Filipina wife following a clash Monday with the pro-ISIS terror group, Abu Sayyaf, in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials said.
Officials said soldiers managed to rescue Allan Arthur Hyrons, 70; and Welma Paglinawan on Mount Piahan in Parang town after militants abandoned the duo and escaping a massive military operations which began over the weekend.
“A gunfight ensued and lasted about 10 minutes after which the bandits broke up and ran away in different directions, leaving the Hyrons at the site of the encounter on Mount Piahan in Parang town.”
“Naiwan ‘yung dalawa (ng hostages), hindi na nila kayang dalahin, so they scampered away to different directions. Pero tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang hot pursuit natin, nandoon pa rin ‘yung ating tropa, on the ground,” said Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, the regional military commander.
The couple was brought to a military base in the capital town of Jolo where they had undergone a medical examination.
Major General Corleto Vinluan, commander of the 11th Infantry Division in Sulu, said troops managed to drive the Abu Sayyaf fighters to an area and constricted their movements, forcing the militants to break up and eventually left behind their hostages after a 20-minute gun battle.
“The abductors were driven to a designated constriction area through the collective efforts of operationally-controlled units of the 11th Infantry Division as the concurrent integrator of AFP operations in Sulu.”
“Our troops were able to close in on the Abu Sayyaf group and engaged them in a 20-minute firefight. Overwhelmed by our forces, they withdrew from the site, allowing our soldiers to rescue the couple. Our unrelenting efforts to flush out there terrorists allowed our troops to pinpoint the location of the enemies and finally free the kidnapped victims,” Vinluan said, adding, there were no reports of casualties on both sides.
The rescue of the Hyrons occurred 3 days after troops killed 5 militants and wounded four others in a firefight in the towns of Patikul and Indanan. Among those who perished was Sibih Pisih, an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader under Radulan Sahiron.
Pisih was being linked by the military to cross-border kidnappings in Sabah and Tawi-Tawi province. He was also implicated in the mass murder of nearly 2 dozen civilians in Talipao town in 2014, according to Vinluan. “The Abu Sayyaf group will be hunted down one-by-one if they do not surrender peacefully. We will not stop until all of them are brought to justice,” he said.
The British embassy praised the rescue of the couple and in a statement sent to the Zamboanga Post said: “We welcome the rescue of Alan and Wilma Hyrons, who were kidnapped on 4 October. We extend our gratitude to the government and authorities of the Philippines.”
The Hayron couple was seized by 6 armed men on the night of October 4 shortly after they arrived at their resort in Alindahaw village in Tukuran town in Zamboanga del Sur province. The abductors dragged away the victims to the coastline where a motorized boat was waiting and then escaped under cover of darkness.
A caretaker at the resort has confirmed that two of the suspects even rented a cottage. Aside from the resort, the couple also owns the Hyrons College in the town. The kidnappings occurred during an extended martial law in the South where security forces are battling Muslim extremist groups and communist rebels in the restive region. (Zamboanga Post)
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