Article

2019-11-30 Southeast Asia

Abu Sayyaf hostages recount their ordeal

[AFP] A British man and his wife rescued this week from militant captors in the southern Philippines say they were chained and threatened with decapitation if they didn’t deliver a ransom. The couple, shaken but unharmed, told of their nearly two-month ordeal to reporters after escaping during a gun battle on Monday between Philippine troops and the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf.

Armed men abducted the couple on October 4 at the beach resort they run on the southern island of Mindanao. They were taken to Jolo island, a well-known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, which has carried out some of the Philippines’ worst terrorist attacks.

The husband, Alan Hyrons, painted a “very humiliating and degrading” life in captivity, with little to eat in a haze of constant fear. His wife Wilma said, "They chained our legs... It was very difficult, but we endured because we believe in God. One of them treated us well, but then he told me he would be the one assigned to cut off my head if the money does not arrive on time."

She said the men pointed guns at her face, ordering her to call her brother so he would sell all their assets to raise their ransom, which the couple did not state.

Their chance for escape came after several days of clashes between the military and the kidnappers, which saw at least five of the gunmen killed.

“It’s something you see on films and you take it to be a film. But in real life it’s terrifying,” Alan said, describing the final gun battle.

“There were only 10 of them when we escaped ... It was the commander who got hit first so I told Alan, let us run. We should not wait here to be killed."

Posted by ryuge 2019-11-30 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11138 views ] Top
File under: Abu Sayyaf (ISIS)

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