Philippines

Three Philippine soldiers killed, Red Cross workers still hostage

Article published on the 2009-03-17 Latest update 2009-03-18 09:40 TU

The Philippine army in action
(Photo: Reuters)

Three soldiers have been killed and 19 wounded in a two-day battle with Abu Sayyaf rebels on the southern Philippine island of Jolo. The army, which says that six Abu Sayyaf members also died, is trying to free three Red Cross workers that the Islamic armed group has been holding since 15 January.

Fighting broke out when Abu Sayyaf fighters tried to break through an army cordon around dense jungle where they are holed up with the hostages.

The army claims to have killed six rebels and wounded others, including the group's commander Albader Parad.

The fate of the hostages - Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Swiss national Andreas Notter - is unknown. The military says that it found tents and equipment belonging to them in a camp it took over on Monday.

"We know they are intact in one group ... the Abu Sayyaf and the hostages," military spokesperson Brigadier General Gaudencio Pangilinan told reporters. "They have moved I think two or three kilometres from the original encounter site."

"Officials are saying that the rebels are getting frustrated and that they wanted to break out of the area because the military has been restricting them in that one place," reports Girlie Minao from Manila.

Although the movement says that it is fighting for a Muslim homeland in the south, like the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front, it is officially regarded as "more of a bandit group".

"The military say there could be between 200 and 400 in the Abu Sayyaf, depending on their activities,"  Linao told RFI. "The number increases when they have, for example, hostages, as right now. Since Jaanuary more people have become Abu Sayyaf rebels again to become guards … in helping keep the hostages."

The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) said in a statement that it is concerned about the hostages' safety.

Alain Aeschlimann, the ICRC's head of operations in Asia, says that he last spoke to the hostages by telephone on 11 March.

"The ICRC is aware that an exchange of gunfire took place in the region on Monday, 16 March," Aeschlimann said. "We're very concerned to hear about this development."

Abu Sayyaf, which broke away from larger guerrilla groups fighting for a Muslim homeland in the south of the Philippines, has made no formal demand for the hostages' release. But local officials who have tried to gain their freedom have quoted the figure of one million dollars (772,000 euros).