ZAMBOANGA CITY – A Filipino physician kidnapped by the pro-ISIS
group Abu Sayyaf was freed in the southern Philippine province of Sulu after a
month in captivity.
Dr Daniel Moreno was recovered by security forces in
the town of Indanan late Tuesday. Other reports said members of the Moro
National Liberation Front under Yusop Jikiri helped rescue the doctor.
There was no immediate statement from the Western Mindanao Command or
the Sulu police force, but photos of Moreno, accompanied by Jikiri and
policemen and soldiers went viral on Facebook.
The photos showed the unshaven and frail-looking doctor wearing a pair
of denim, sandals and a brown t-shirt and being assisted by Jikiri and soldiers
as he walked his way to waiting security forces.
Moreno, who is in his 60s, was snatched in his clinic in the capital
town of Jolo just after dusk February 4 in a daring assault carried out by at
least four armed men disguised as soldiers.
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.
It was unknown if Moreno’s family paid ransom to the Abu Sayyaf which
originally demanded P5 million for his safe release.
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.
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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