Gunmen abduct Sulu doctor

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A Filipino doctor was seized by gunmen who barged into his clinic in Sulu’s capital town of Jolo and escaped on a van undetected by security forces.

Dr Daniel Moreno, who is in his 60s, was snatched just after dusk Tuesday in a daring assault carried out by at least four armed men disguised as soldiers. Moreno’s clinic is not far from the police headquarters. 

It was unclear how the gunmen managed to pass through military checkpoints around the town without being detected by soldiers and even policemen. Jolo is under tight security following twin suicide bombings by an Indonesian couple at a local Catholic church in January last year that killed and wounded dozens of civilians and soldiers.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the latest abduction, but the pro-ISIS terror group Abu Sayyaf has been largely blamed in previous ransom kidnappings in Jolo.

The militants, who were fighting for the establishment of a caliphate, resorted to kidnappings to fund the purchase of weapons and terror attacks in the restive region dominated by Christians.

Moreno’s family did not give any statement and security officials also have not released official reports on the disappearance of the doctor. 

The latest abduction was a blow to the efforts of provincial governor Sakur Tan in promoting peace and development and may affect Sulu’s cultural and tourism programs, especially now that there have been a spike in the arrival of local tourists the past years.

The Abu Sayyaf had previously kidnapped foreigners and traders, and even members of the International Committee of the Red Cross and journalists in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region. (Zamboanga Post)

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