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Military fails to capture Samal kidnappers in S. Philippines: media

Xinhua, September 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

The kidnappers of three foreigners and a Filipino at a resort in Samal Island of southern Philippines last week have slipped through blockade of the Philippine military and police, local media reported on Tuesday.

Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Aurelio Baladad said all leads being pursued by the combined military and police elements in Davao region have turned out to be false.

"The kidnappers, believed to be local contacts of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), intentionally used New People's Army as their cover to mislead pursuing government troops. They even left a note declaring that they are seeking justice for their commander," local media Philippine Star reported.

"This deception apparently paid off and gave the kidnappers time to escape with their hostages, traversing the coastal areas of Davao Gulf, mostly along Muslim communities, towards Sarangani province while thousands of military and police troops pursued them in the mountains of Davao del Norte and Davao del Surm," the report added.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday that he received reports that the kidnappers and their hostages Canadians John Ridsdel, 68, Robert Hall, 50, Norwegian resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad and Hall's Filipino girlfriend Maritess Flor are now in Sulu.

However, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla, AFP and Philippine National Police are not convinced that ASG was behind the kidnap.

The 400-strong ASG, founded in the early 1990s by extremists, is notorious for a series of kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in southern Philippines over the past decades.

The ASG operates mainly in Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi Provinces in the Sulu Archipelago and has a presence on Mindanao. Endi