Philippine terrorist organisation Abu Sayyaf has once again been linked with two attacks in the south of the country. The Muslim separatists are thought to have been behind an attack on a roro ship and a tugboat on Thursday off Basilan island. Two of the tugboat crew were kidnapped. The tug was towing the roro from Cebu to General Santos town when the attack took place.
Meanwhile, two Malaysian sailors held captive for eight months by the Muslim militants were rescued Thursday in the southern Philippines.
Tayudin Anjut, 45, and Abdurahim Bin Sumas, 62, were among five Malaysian tugboat crewmen kidnapped in July off Malaysia’s Sabah state near the southern Philippines.
At least 28 hostages, many of them foreign seafarers, remain in the hands of different Abu Sayyaf factions.
