ZAMBOANGA CITY, 27 May 2004 — Security forces killed three gunmen implicated in the kidnappings of foreigners in Sabah during a fierce firefight in the southern province of Tawi-Tawi, a navy commander said yesterday. Seven more gunmen were captured in the gunbattle on the island of Umapoy, not far from the Malaysian island where gunmen kidnapped four Indonesian and two Filipino resort workers in October, said Captain Feliciano Angue, commander of the Philippine Navy’s anti-terrorist Task Force 62. Four of the hostages were freed late Sunday. Another Filipino, Novelito Arcosel, escaped last year and the sixth, Annuar, was reported to have died in captivity. The kidnap gang is still holding an Indonesian tugboat skipper and two Malaysian seamen kidnapped at sea off Tawi-Tawi on April 11.
