Tausug trader freed by Abu Sayyaf after a year of captivity

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A Tausug trader was freed by his Abu Sayyaf abductors on Wednesday morning, after almost a year of captivity.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command, said Araji Maani, a money-lending businessman, was freed in the village of Wanih Piyanjihan in Parang, Sulu.

Maani was kidnapped here on July 27 last year.

Tan could not say if ransom was paid for his release.

Maani was abducted by an Abu Sayyaf sub-group led by a certain Sibih Pisih.

On Tuesday night, members of the Army’s 35th Infantry Battalion clashed with suspected Abu Sayyaf members in the village of Maligay in Patikul town.

The five-minute encounter left an Abu Sayyaf member dead.