ZAMBOANGA CITY: Filipino bandits raided yesterday two remote villages and seized at least two dozen people, but freed them later in the day after troops pursued them in the southern province of Lanao del Norte, authorities said.
Authorities said at least 15 gunmen swooped down on the villages of San Roque and Kulasihan in the town of Kolambugan at around 6.30 a.m. and seized the victims.
The gunmen were members of the so-called Tonda Force, blamed by police and military to the series of cattle rustling and extortion in the province. Little is known about the group or whether it has links with the Abu Sayyaf or the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front which is also active in the area.
Other reports said the gunmen also seized several teachers and students at a government school in San Roque.
Police and military gave conflicting number of hostages, but one intelligence report said at least 23 members of three families were taken and another report claimed up to a dozen teachers had been abducted.
All the hostages were released one after the others while some managed to escape from their captors who used them as shield against pursuing security forces, said Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido, commander of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Tabak.
“All the hostages are accounted for, but troops are still pursuing the bandits,” Atendido told Arab News.
Atendido said the raiders also took farm animals.
