ZAMBOANGA CITY – Security forces were searching for a seven-year old daughter of a Muslim merchant abducted by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants in the remote Tawi-Tawi province in southern Philippines, officials said Thursday.
The gunmen seized the victim and shot her mother during the abduction in the village of Himba in the island-town of Tandubas on Monday. Authorities said the militants arrived on a motorboat in the village and seized the girl from their store.
The victim’s father took his gun, opened fire on militants and sparking a firefight that left his wife wounded after being shot by one of the abductors. The gunmen escaped along with the girl, whose surname is Astah.
Tawi-Tawi, which is near the Malaysian state of Sabah, is one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the daring abduction and officials did not say whether the gunmen had contacted the victim’s family.
While the hunt for the gunmen continues, police said it is holding an Abu Sayyaf fighter who was captured recently in the neighboring province of Sulu where security forces are battling the militant group tied to the Islamic State.
Police said Suaid Hayudini is currently being investigated here, but details of the interrogation were not immediately available. Hayudini was said to have participated in cross-border raid in Sabah in 2000 where the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 21 mostly European holidaymakers and Asian resort workers.
It was unknown whether police seized weapons from Hayudini. The Abu Sayyaf is still holding about a dozen hostages, mostly foreign sailors, in the restive region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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