MANILA — Philippine President Benigno Aquino vowed on Wednesday to launch a military assault aimed at “neutralizing” militants who beheaded a Canadian hostage and are holding more than 20 other foreigners.
“Casualties are to be expected. But what has to be of utmost importance is neutralizing the criminal activities of the ASG,” Aquino said in a statement, referring to the Abu Sayyaf militant group by a commonly used acronym.
Aquino released the statement after the severed head of Canadian John Ridsdel, kidnapped seven months ago from aboard a yacht, was dumped Monday on a street on Jolo, a remote southern island that is one of the Abu Sayyaf’s main strongholds.
“This murder was meant to terrorize our whole population. The Abu Sayyaf thought they could instill fear in us. Instead, they have galvanized us even further to ensure justice is meted out,” Aquino said.
“We have always been open to talks with those who desire peace, but those who commit atrocities can expect the full might of the state.”
He did not give a time-frame for the assault.
The Abu Sayyaf militants, whose leaders have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, are holding more than 20 other foreigners captive.
These include another Canadian, a Norwegian man and a Filipina who were abducted at the same time as Ridsdel at a marina near Davao, the biggest city in the southern Philippines and about 600 km from Jolo.
The Abu Sayyaf is also believed to be holding a Dutch birdwatcher kidnapped from a southern Philippine island in 2012, as well as 18 Indonesian and Malaysian sailors abducted over the past month.
Aquino said the captives were under the control of Radullan Sahiron, one of the Abu Sayyaf’s founders who is famous for losing one arm in battle against the military.
He said Sahiron had consolidated his forces around himself and the captives in Sulu, a small Muslim-populated archipelago about 1,000 km from Manila. Jolo is the biggest island in Sulu.
“This presents both a problem and an opportunity. It is a problem because of the sizeable force surrounding Sahiron and the captives, but it is also an opportunity because smashing these forces is within our grasp,” Aquino said. — AFP
