Militants who specialise in kidnapping for ransom have reported killing a German sailor and abducting her elderly male companion from their yacht off the southern Philippines, the military said Monday.
A commander from the Abu Sayyaf group, which has earned millions of dollars by kidnapping foreigners and killed others after ransom demands were not met, claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, regional military spokesman Filemon Tan told AFP.
It appeared the victims were the same as those abducted by Somali pirates off the Gulf of Aden and held hostage for 52 days in 2008. The husband and wife were released at that time after a ransom was paid.
Tan said the military had recovered the couple's yacht, named the Rockall, and the body of a naked white woman who had been shot was aboard.
He said the military had listened to an audio recording of a known Abu Sayyaf leader claiming responsibility for the raid on the yacht, and the abducted German man also spoke on the phone call.
The abducted man identified himself as Jurgen Kantner, aged 70, and his companion as Sabine, according to Tan.
Tan said the passports of Kantner and Sabine Merz were found on the Rockall.
He said the photo in Merz's passport appeared to match the body of the dead woman aboard, although her identity still needed to be confirmed.
In Berlin the German government said it had yet to verify the media reports.
"We are trying right now together with Filipino authorities to determine (what happened)," foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schafer told reporters.
"We have to see what the facts are, to see if what the media are saying is actually true."
AFP interviewed Kantner in 2009 about being kidnapped along with Merz, identified then as his wife, by Somali pirates. He was subjected to a mock execution during the ordeal.
Speaking from Somalia where he had returned to retrieve their boat, Kantner said the threat of another kidnapping would not stop him from sailing.
"My boat is my life and I don't want to lose her, nothing more. I don't care about pirates and governments," Kantner told AFP from Berbera.
Kantner said then that he could not afford another kidnapping, after the ransom was paid to the Somali pirates.
"I really hope the pirates don't catch me because this time no one will pay and everybody will tell the pirates: 'Keep him'," he said.
- Growing threat -
The Abu Sayyaf, a loose network of militants based on remote islands in the southern Philippines, has defied more than a decade of US-backed military offensives and has been on a lucrative kidnapping spree in recent years.
In 2014 the militants abducted another German couple off a yacht in the southern Philippines. They released the pair six months later after receiving what they said was the full ransom demand of 250 million pesos ($5.1 million).
The Abu Sayyaf beheaded two Canadian men this year after demands for millions of dollars were not met.
The Abu Sayyaf is also blamed for kidnapping dozens of Indonesian and Malaysian sailors off the southern Philippines near where the Rockall was raided.
Most of those sailors were released after ransoms were reportedly paid.
However some are still being held and another two Indonesian fishermen were abducted off Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah at the weekend.
The Philippine military launched an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf after President Rodrigo Duterte vowed in August to eliminate the group.
But the Abu Sayyaf has continued to carry out raids apparently without hindrance, with the poorly equipped troops unable to secure the remote and mountainous southern islands or surrounding waters.
Foreigners typically stay away from that area because of the kidnapping threat.
However militants are also planning to kidnap foreigners in tourist hotspots of the central Philippines, the US government warned last week.
AFP
Mon Nov 07 2016
German nationals Kantner and his wife Sabine Merz (R) pose for a photograph on May 05, 2009 in Berbera, Somalia. - AFP PHOTO/MUSTAFA ABD
Unjuran pertumbuhan KDNK 2025 sebanyak 4.5-5.5 peratus adalah munasabah - Ahli ekonomi
Belanjawan 2025 adalah langkah terbaik untuk mengimbangi keutamaan ekonomi dengan realiti politik.
Semua negara wajib tamatkan pendudukan Israel ke atas wilayah Palestin - Suruhanjaya Siasatan PBB
Pendudukan Israel adalah punca utama kepada kitaran keganasan yang tidak berkesudahan dan konflik selama beberapa dekad.
Dijangka jana sebahagian besar pertumbuhan ekonomi global
BRICS memainkan peranan luar biasa dalam ekonomi global pada masa kini dan diyakini meningkat di masa depan.
Enam maut, 25 cedera bas terbabas di Turkiye
Enam terbunuh manakala 25 cedera apabila sebuah bas terbabas lalu terbalik di Aksaray wilayah tengah Turki, pada Jumaat.
Polis giat cari warga amerika yang disyaki diculik
Pihak berkuasa Filipina pada Jumaat melancarkan pencarian seorang warga Amerika Syarikat yang dipercayai diculik kumpulan bersenjata di selatan Filipina.
Singapura tahan remaja bawah ISA, rancang lakukan serangan
Jabatan Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISD) dalam satu kenyataan berkata pelajar yang radikal diri itu merupakan penyokong tegar kumpulan Daesh, juga merancang pergi ke Syria, untuk terlibat dalam keganasan bersenjata.
Pasukan pengaman disasar secara sengaja - Jurucakap UNIFIL
Jurucakap itu berkata kedudukan mereka telah berulang kali diserang di Lubnan, sekali gus meletakkan pasukan pengaman dalam bahaya.
Dia rakyat beta, beri keadilan sekarang - Tengku Hassanal
Tengku Mahkota Pahang itu dalam kemas kini di Instagram Story hari ini menambah, keadilan bukan sahaja perlu perlu dilaksanakan, tetapi ia juga mesti dilihat dilaksanakan.
Empat lelaki didakwa rompak jongkong emas RM710,000
Empat lelaki mengaku tidak bersalah di Mahkamah Sesyen Kuala Lumpur, pada Jumaat, atas pertuduhan merompak jongkong emak bernilai RM710,000, awal bulan lalu.
Tiga penunggang motosikal maut dalam kemalangan berasingan di LPT2
Tiga lelaki dipercayai peserta program EX5 Members 4.0 maut dalam dua kemalangan berasingan di Lebuhraya Pantai Timur 2 (LPT2) di Kemaman hari ini.
Perintah berkurung di perairan ESSZone dilanjut sehingga 10 April
Perintah berkurung membabitkan perairan tujuh daerah di Zon Selamat Timur Sabah (ESSZone) yang berakhir esok, dilanjutkan sehingga 10 April ini.
Abu Sayyaf: Pasukan komando UTK digerakkan ke pantai timur Sabah
Tahap keselamatan di pantai timur Sabah akan dipertingkatkan termasuk menggerakkan satu pasukan komando Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK) bagi menangani isu berkaitan kumpulan Abu Sayyaf.
Pembuat bom Abu Sayyaf sah masih hidup - ESSCom
Pembuat bom yang juga sub ketua kumpulan Abu Sayyaf, Mudzrimar atau Mundi Sawadjaan yang dilaporkan ditembak mati Mei lepas di Filipina, disahkan masih hidup.
ESSCOM keluarkan 20 senarai suspek dikehendaki terbabit kes penculikan
ESSCOM hari ini mengeluarkan senarai terkini 20 individu warga Filipina yang dikehendaki kerana terbabit dalam kes penculikan untuk wang tebusan.
Kerajaan bangun pelan tindakan kebangsaan, tangani fahaman pelampau keganasan
Kerajaan sedang membangunkan Pelan Tindakan Kebangsaan Bagi Mencegah dan Menangani Fahaman Pelampau Keganasan (NAPPCVE).
Abu Sayyaf: Pemilik ladang perlu pastikan pekerja memiliki dokumen pengenalan diri - Polis
Hazani berkata, jika sukar memastikan pekerja memiliki dokumen yang sah, pemilik ladang perlulah mencari jalan untuk mendokumentasikan sendiri buruh mereka.
Dua anggota Abu Sayyaf maut, 11 ditahan rancang culik pemilik ladang kelapa sawit
Polis Keselamatan menggagalkan cubaan kumpulan militan Abu Sayyaf untuk melakukan penculikan untuk tebusan ke atas pemilik ladang kelapa sawit di sekitar Sandakan.
Polis Sabah tembak mati dua anggota Abu Sayyaf
Kedua-dua lelaki ditembak mati dalam insiden berbalas tembakan dengan pasukan keselamatan.
Mesej Abu Sayyaf tangkap, potong anggota badan penduduk tidak benar - ESSCom
Kawasan Keselamatan Khas Pantai Timur Sabah (ESSCom) menafikan dakwaan berlaku kejadian kumpulan Abu Sayyaf menangkap penduduk kampung dan memotong anggota badan.
Rumah jadi lokasi serang hendap pengganas Abu Sayyaf terhadap polis dimusnahkan
Enam rumah di kawasan hutan di belakang Taman Sri Arjuna, Beaufort yang menjadi lokasi serangan hendap pengganas Abu Sayyaf terhadap pasukan Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) dimusnahkan.