Hostages race to freedom in Philippines

The Philippine military said on Wednesday that the militants were killed in separate clashes on two islands in the country’s troubled south.

He said he jumped into a ravine and ran away from the Abu Sayyaf Group’s camp until he reached a civilian community where he sought for help.

He added that troopers from the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion under Lt. Col. Eugene Boquio were conducting “focused military operations” in the area when they encountered an estimated 80 to 100 brigands under ASG sub-leaders Yasser Igasan and Alhabsy Misaya.

Horn, from Groningen, was kidnapped in the Philippines in February 2012 by extremist group Abu Sayyaf.

“They are here with us and having a meal right now”, Bulao told reporters by phone from an army base on Jolo.

Found an hour apart, they did not know the other had escaped until they saw each other Thursday at a local hospital where they were being treated for bruises.

No one was reported killed or injured on the military side.

As of 6:15 p.m., the military said the firefight was still ongoing.

Sporting long beards, Gringo Villaruz and Rod Allain Pagaling said luck and quick wit aided their escape from Abu Sayyaf militants on the remote southern island of Jolo.

Four other hostages, including two businessmen from Malaysia and South Korea, held at the same location in the jungle near Indanan town on Jolo island have still not been accounted for, army spokesman Captain Antonio Bulao said.

“Reports from ground troops, intelligence units, civilians, and action agents” had it that at least 15 bandits had been killed”, said Arrojado, commander of the Task Force Sulu.

The group engages in kidnappings to finance its operations, often targeting foreigners and sometimes beheading captives if ransoms are not paid.

Meanwhile, Malacañang on Thursday commended the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for its operations that led to the fleeing from captivity of two Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel who were abducted last May.

It has additionally been blamed for the worst bomb assaults within the nation, together with the firebombing of a ferry off Manila Bay in 2004 that killed greater than one hundred individuals.