2 Region 9 policewomen abducted by militants in Sulu

MAGUINDANAO --- Bandits abducted four people, two of them policewomen, in Patikul town in the hostile Sulu province on Sunday.Reports obtained Monday from the Regional Police Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in Parang town in Maguindanao stated that PO1 Benierose Alvarez and PO1 Dina Gumahad were snatched along with two villagers, Jakosalem Ahamad Blas and Faisal Ahidji.Alvarez and Gumahad both belong to the Police Regional Office-9 in Zamboanga City, according to senior police and military officers in Sulu.The four kidnap victims were riding a red tricycle with body number 1899 together en route to a common destination when they were flagged down at Barangay Liang in Patikul by gunmen reportedly led by Mujir Yada and herded at gunpoint to a secluded area south of the municipality.Personnel of the Army-led Joint Task Force Sulu and the Sulu provincial are now scouring the hinterlands and seaside areas in Patikul to rescue the four captives.Yada, an ethnic Tausug, is a commander in the Islamic State-inspired Abu Sayyaf, which operates with impunity in Sulu, touted as the most dangerous area in the Philippines, also among the country’s ten poorest provinces.The island province is also the main bastion of the Abu Sayyaf, which operates in the fashion of the Islamic State and is feared for beheading captives if ransom demands are not met.