Duterte, who has restarted peace talks with the country’s two major Muslim rebel groups since taking office on June 30, initially pleaded for peace with Abu Sayyaf but has since hardened his position and branded them as terrorists.
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Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesperson of Western Mindanao Command, said sustained military operations led to the freeing of Daniela Taruc and Levy Gonzales in Panglima Estino town in Sulu on Sunday night.
Sekkingstad, accompanied by Dureza, was flown to Davao City from Jolo, Sulu while the three Indonesians were taken to Zamboanga City.
“We know the Armed Forces of the Philippines deployed around 10,000 troops [recently] and now there are 20,000 in the [southern] region to crush the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group”, Ryamizard Ryacudu told reporters at a military camp during a visit to southern Zamboanga City.
Kjartan Sekkingstad was abducted along with three other people, including two Canadians and one Filipino from Samal Island in Davao del Norte in September 2015.
Andanar said the release of Norwegian would not mean that the government will stop its massive military operations against the Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
On Saturday, ASG released Norwegian hostage Kjartan Sekkingstad, followed by the release of three other Indonesian hostages on Sunday.
The Norwegian, who appeared gaunt and frail in photographs documenting his release, reportedly passed the message along to Duterte via a phone conversation with Philippine Peace Process adviser Jesus Dureze on Saturday.
Brende, who has praised the Philippines’ efforts to free the hostages over the past year, was clearly relieved.
Mr Ridsdel was beheaded in April and Mr Hall was decapitated in June after ransom deadlines lapsed. “Now if there was a third party who made the payment, if it’s the family (of the victim), we are not aware of that”.
“We are still working on this and we will not rejoice until Sekkingstad is safe and sound with Philippine authorities”, Norwegian foreign minister Boerge Brende said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding “it would likely happen tomorrow”.
Five Indonesians, five Malaysians and a Dutch bird watcher, along with five Filipinos, remain in Abu Sayyaf custody, the Philippine military said. He announced that possible deals with Russian Federation and China were “in the pipeline”, and vowed to upgrade the nation’s armed forces to better address recent terrorist attacks.
Lorenzana said the shift in the attitude of the bandits started when President Rodrigo Duterte started talking to Misuari.
The release of Sekkingstad and Indonesians – Lorence Koten, Theo Doros Kofong, and Emanuel Arakian – will likely be seen as a victory for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Tan said he had no knowledge of any money changing hands to secure Sekkingstad’s freedom.
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Duterte has deployed 7,000 troops to Sulu to go after Abu Sayyaf. Abu Sayyaf, a group in the southern Philippines that professes radical Islamic ideology but which is better known for banditry and kidnappings, has declared allegiance to the Islamic State.
