10 November 2016•Update: 10 November 2016
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines
President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to allow Malaysian and Indonesian maritime forces to pursue a Daesh-linked group into Philippine waters.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak made the announcement after a bilateral meeting with Duterte in Putrajaya, Malaysia on Thursday.
According to Malaysian state news agency Bernama, Razak told reporters that the Philippines had given Malaysia license to enter its waters in pursuit of kidnappers and militants terrorizing Malaysia's eastern coast of Sabah -- long a rich picking ground for the Abu Sayyaf.
"I appreciate President Duterte's practical way in stamping out this menace, said Razak, adding that Indonesia had also been allowed to cross the maritime borders in pursuit of criminals.
"This year, 10 Malaysians were being kidnapped by militant groups based in southern Philippines, of whom five are still held captive," he said.
"Defense ministers of the three countries will meet to sort out the standard operating procedure for this to be implemented soon," said Najib.
Duterte is in Malaysia for a two-day official visit, his first to his southern neighbor after assuming the presidency in June.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
The Abu Sayyaf is among two militant groups in the south who have pledged allegiance to Daesh, prompting fears during the stalling of a peace process between the government and the country's one-time largest Moro rebel group that it could make inroads in a region torn by decades of armed conflict.
