Sabah abduction prompts Western Mindanao Command to raise alert

In this photo taken with a mobile phone camera on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, tourists hide behind a table in reaction to gunshot sounds at the Singmata Adventures and Reef resort after a raid by suspected Filipino insurgents in Semporna, Sabah state of Malaysia. Suspected Filipino insurgents seized a Chinese tourist and a hotel worker from a dive resort in eastern Malaysia and then fled by speed boat, Malaysian and Philippine officials said Thursday. AP

MANILA, Philippines–The military’s Western Mindanao Command alerted its naval assets after the abduction of a Filipino resort worker and a Chinese national in Sabah on Thursday.

“As of now naka-alert naman po yung mga naval assets natin,” Captain Rowena Muyuela, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Wesmincom said.

A report by Star Malaysia said the Abu Sayyaf Group abducted the two. The ASG is a terrorist group linked to kidnappings and bombings in Mindanao. It is also associated with Al Qaeda.

Sabah is a boat ride from the Mindanao region.

“We are still waiting for the official report,” Muyuela said.

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