Malaysia Shuts Down Philippine Border due to AbuSayyaf Kidnapping

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Malaysian state of Sabah has shut down its border with Tawi-Tawi province in southern Philippines following the spate of daring kidnappings by the jihadist group Abu Sayyaf inside its territory.

Philippine authorities have failed miserably to stop the cross-border kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf in the oil-rich state of Sabah with 4 Malaysians as its latest victims.

The Abu Sayyaf also kidnapped 10 Indonesian sailors on March 26 off Tawi-Tawi, just several nautical miles from Sabah.

Just recently, two Filipino general were sacked for failing to stop the Abu Sayyaf kidnappings inside Sabah. The Abu Sayyaf had in the past beheaded a Malaysian hostage in southern Philippines and killed a maritime policeman in a raid on a popular resort in Sabah.

There was no immediate statement from the Philippine National Police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) or the military’s Western Mindanao Command on the closure of the Sabah border. The Department of Foreign Affairs also did not release any statement about this.

MINDANAO EXAMINER | CHOIRUL AMINUDDIN