The four hostages taken from Samal Island 10 days ago have been sighted at the foot of Mount Bud Dajo in the jungles of Sulu.
The information was revealed by a senior official of the Moro National Liberation Front, or MNLF, to officials at the Manila Bulletin who cited friends and sources located in the area.
“They were sighted by MNLF fighters the other day (Monday),” he said.
The MNLF official speaking on condition of anonymity said the kidnappers landed on the beach of Barangay Silangkan, Parang, Sulu at 1am on September 25 and were met by Al-Habsi Misaya.
Al-Habi Misaya leads an Abu Sayyaf faction that recently kidnapped a Chinese resort manager in Sandakan on the island of Sabah in 2014, bringing him to the same area as the Samal hostages.
The group has earned millions in kidnapping high-profile people throughout Mindanao.
The source says that Misaya and his men led the hostages to the foot of Mount Bud Dajo, about five miles from Jolo, the capital town of Sulu.
Mount Bud Dajo is the site of the “Bud Dajo Massacre” when over 1,000 Tausug men, women and children were killed by American forces in 1906.
The same source also noted that the kidnappers’ resting place is well hidden and about ten miles from the camp of MNLF founder Nur Misuari.
Also noted was a ‘proof of life’ by the source, but the kidnappers are demanding two million pesos before giving any proof of life to anyone.
The source said: “That is not the ransom yet, only the proof of life.”
The source added: “I believe the kidnappers have already reached the families of the foreigners through the negotiator.”
Drones have been used in the vicinity of Mount Dub Dajo for the past two nights between the borders of Talipao, Patikul and Indanan.
A total of seven kidnapping groups call home to Sulu – those include Ajang-Ajang, Misaya, Tanum, Lucky 9, Anak Ilo, Sawadjaan and Norodum.
Several other affiliated groups and ‘long-arm’ groups of the so-called Islamic State and other radical groups also exist within the numerous islands of the Sulu archipelago.
The source said that the kidnappers were on the run, which may endanger the lives of the four hostages.
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