Vietnamplus

Ten Malaysian fishermen were kidnapped by suspected Islamic State-linked militants off Borneo island on June 18 and were taken to the southern Philippines, local police said.

Malaysian police have arrested eight militants of the Islamic State (IS)-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, the country’s authorities said.

The Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines has contact with authorised local agencies to verify the information of six Vietnamese sailors’ kidnap and seek measures to rescue the victims.

Pirates attacked a Vietnamese cargo ship and kidnapped six out of its 19 crewmembers off the Philippines' Basilan island on November 11, said the Vietnam Maritime Administration.

Gunmen from the Islamic insurgent group Abu Sayyaf on November 6 attacked a yacht in Sabahz of Malaysia, kidnapping a German man and killing his girlfriend.

Three Indonesian fishermen and a Norwegian citizen have been freed by the Abu Sayyaf militant group after three months in captivity in the southern Philippines province of Sulu.

Three Indonesian sailors were kidnapped by gunmen in Malaysia’s offshore waters where Abu Sayyaf insurgents have been accused of conducting several similar incident, said local police on July 10.

The Indonesia Ministry of Transport on June 24 announced a ban to the country’s vessels from sailing to the Philippines after seven Indonesian sailors were kidnapped in the southern Philippines waters

At least 14 gunmen of the Abu Sayyaf group were killed in a military campaign against the terrorist group in the southern Philippine province of Sulu after the group beheaded a Canadian kidnap victim.

Unidentified gunmen have abducted two Canadian tourists, a Norwegian resort manager and a Filipino woman from a popular resort island in the southern Philippines, the local army confirmed on Sept. 22.