Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysian fisherman kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf last year was rescued in Sulu on Thursday but is in critical condition after being shot by the group, a Philippine military spokesman told Daily Express.
Jari Abdullah, 34, was abducted along with two Indonesians from their fishing boat in Pegasus Reef waters off Kinabatangan on Dec 6.
“The victim was rescued today (Thursday), but he’s in critical condition because he was shot by the ASG [Abu Sayyaf group] before troops could rescue him.
“He was rescued in Simisa Island and is being airlifted to the military hospital in Zamboanga,” the Philippine military’s Western Mindanao Command spokesperson, Colonel Gerry Besana, said in a Viber message on Thursday evening.
In February, Jari’s wife, Nadin Junianti Najiri, appealed to Malaysian authorities to rescue her husband after receiving calls from the abductors who threatened to harm him if there was no negotiation with the Malaysian Government.
In September last year, two Indonesian fishermen, Samsul Sangunim and Usman Yunos, were abducted by the Abu Sayyaf in Semporna waters. Usman, 30, fled his captors in Sulu before being rescued by locals and handed over to the Philippine military in December.
In January this year, Samsul was seen kneeling in a hole in a jungle pleading at gunpoint for help in a video that went viral. He was rescued several days later.
Daily Express, in a February exclusive, reported that the Abu Sayyaf had demanded 10 billion rupiah or RM3 million in ransom in connection with the two Indonesians, Heri Ardiansyah, 19, and Hariadin, 45, who were kidnapped with Jari.
The Semporna abduction broke an almost two-year lull in kidnapping in eastern Sabah, which overlooks the Sulu Sea, once described as one of the most dangerous piracy and kidnapping hotspots in the world.
The most infamous kidnapping in eastern Sabah occurred in 2000 when the Abu Sayyaf snatched 21 people, including western holiday-makers, from a resort at the world renowned diving island of Sipadan.
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