Philippines: Head of suspected hostage found in Sulu

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

Police are reported to have found a severed head believed to be that of a foreign hostage in a troubled Sulu province in the Philippines south.

Citing a police source, a Philippine Daily Inquirer report Monday said that the Abu Sayyaf had killed one of three foreign captives it was holding in the area.

The Daesh-linked group had threatened to behead one of four hostages by 3 p.m. (0700GMT) April 25 if a ransom demand of 300 million pesos ($6 million) for each hostage was not met.

Chief Insp. Junpikar Sittin, police chief of Jolo, has confirmed the recovery of a head found at the junction of two streets in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province.

Sittin said that the head appeared to belong to a “Caucasian-looking” person, was placed in a plastic bag and discovered at 7.35 p.m Monday.

“We need to search for the body,” he added.

The military could not be reached by Anadolu Agency for confirmation of the alleged beheading.

There were no further details of which hostage -- Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, and Filipino woman Marites Flor -- was thought to have been beheaded.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman of Western Mindanao Command, told reporters in Zamboanga city that there was no information on the fate of the hostages and assured the public that they are intensifying military operations.

The official appealed for understanding for troops to continue with their job and clamp down on Abu Sayyaf activity in the area.

“But as to the kidnap victims we do not have details yet as what we can share. But it will come in the most opportune time,” Tan said.

He added that the army was not yet at liberty to discuss details about the ongoing operations, but sought to assure that its main focus was to recover kidnap victims.

The Abu Sayyaf -- which has pledged allegiance to Daesh -- is also holding a Dutch man kidnapped more than three years ago in Tawi-Tawi.

Since 1991, the group -- 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 "Islamic province" in the Philippines.

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.