ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Gunmen seized four crew members of an Indonesian tugboat and wounded another Friday night near the border of Malaysia in Tawi-Tawi, according to security official.
The armed men, aboard a speedboat, intercepted the tugboat identified as TB Henry with ten Indonesian crew members about 6:30 p.m near Pondo Sibugal, Sitangkai, an island town off Tawi-Tawi.
Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said a crew member was hurt when gunmen fired at the tugboat.
“The tugboat was shot and unfortunately one of the crew was hit and wounded,” Tan said.
Around five to seven armed men took four crew members from the tugboat and transferred them into the speedboat, leaving six others, who include the injured member.
The suspects with their fresh captives fled towards unknown direction.
According to Tan, the survivors aboard their tugboat fled towards Sabah. They were assisted by the Malaysian authorities while the injured survivor was brought to the Sempornah Hospital for treatment.
Tan said no group claimed responsibility for the abduction and has not yet considered the Abu Sayyaf since there are many other pirate groups operating in Sulu waters.
The fresh kidnapping incident came barely weeks when armed men also abducted four Malaysians off Sempornah, Sabah last April 1.
Ten crew members of an Indonesian tugboat were also abducted last March 26 in the border of East Kalimantan, Indonesia while en route to Manila aboard TB Brama.
The TB Brama was recovered three days later off Languyan town in Tawi-Tawi, without signs of the victims.
According to Tan, military forces have been alerted to be on the lookout for the presence of the victims and suspects.
The series of kidnappings prompted the Malaysian government to shutdown trade in the border of Tawi-Tawi, a component province of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
ARMM executive secretary Laisa Alamia said the blockade was implemented by the Malaysian authorities since last week.
The closure has taken its toll to traders in Tawi-Tawi, which has a traditional barter trading route in the southern backdoor of the country.
The incident also prompted ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman to initiate meeting with Malacañang to look into the situation.
Meanwhile, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Mayoralgo dela Cruz will set a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart next week to discuss security coordination to address the spate of kidnappings occurring in the border.
Tan said a joint patrol might be among the solutions to be discussed though Malaysia and Philippines have a yearly joint border patrol exercise.