Authorities working to bring back three more M'sian kidnap victims

LAHAD DATU: The Malaysian authorities are in the process of bringing home three more Malaysians who were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf militant group in July last year, Bernama reports.
They are Jumadil Rahim, 24, Mohd Ridzuan Ismail, 33, and Fandy Bakran, 27.
Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) Commander DCP Datuk Wan Abd Bari Wan Abd Khalid said the trio were rescued by the Philippine security forces in an operation at Punay, in the Panglima Estino district in Sulu Province last night.
Earlier on Monday, dpa reported Philippine military chief General Eduardo Ano said the hostages were recovered by soldiers after their captors hastily left them in a mountainous area in the town of Panglima Estino on the island of Jolo, 1,000km south of Manila, on Sunday evening.
Ano said troops were dispatched to the area after receiving information on the whereabouts of the hostages and their captors, who are members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.
"The militants were overwhelmed with the number of our troops and they fled," he said.
The rescue came just three days after two other Malaysians were recovered by the Philippine military.
The five crew members of a tugboat were abducted in July last year off Sabah.
Ano said the Abu Sayyaf was holding about 20 more hostages, including 12 Vietnamese sailors, seven Indonesians and a Dutch man kidnapped in 2012.
"We call on the Abu Sayyaf to release all their remaining hostages because we will continue to pursue them," he said.
On Feb 26, the group beheaded a 70-year-old German man held captive for three months on the nearby island of Jolo after ransom was not paid.