Authorities did not say if they believed the Abu Sayyaf was involved.
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Reuters reported that five armed men, some in military fatigues, slipped into the high-security waters off Tungku in Sabah’s east coast Lahad Datu district to grab the three fishermen from a Malaysian-registered trawler just before midnight on Saturday.
It takes to 24 the number of Indonesians kidnapped this year in the vital waterway between the three countries, with Philippine Muslim militant outfit Abu Sayyaf accused of being behind all the abductions.
The victims were among seven crew members on board, comprising four Indonesians and three Bajau Laut, who were trawling at the area when they were approached by a boat about 11.40pm.
It was not immediately clear whether the men were seized by Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to Islamic State that is responsible for recent beheadings of Western hostages and notorious for the extortion of millions of dollars in ransoms.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun said the trawler was intercepted by a speedboat which was ferrying five men, three of whom were armed with M-14 and M-16 high-powered rifles.
“No one was injured in the incident”, he said, adding the victims are most likely in the southern Philippines by now.
“The abducted crew members are Indonesians and they have been moved to Tawi-Tawi waters in southern Philippines”, she told a press briefing in Jakarta earlier.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the men were abducted on Saturday in waters off Lahad Datu on the Malaysian part of Borneo, following reports from Malaysia over the weekend.
On April 1, four Malaysian sailors from Sarawak were kidnapped by Filipino gunmen near Pulau Ligitan off Semporna and released last month.
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The Abu Sayyaf militant group has beheaded two Canadian nationals recently after its ransom deadlines expired. “And we are also hopeful that the government could help in releasing them if the [information about] our kidnapped residents is true”, he said.
