Pirates hijack trawler, kill 3 crewmen off Basilan Island
Saturday, March 07, 2009 05:48:53 PM

ISABELA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 7, 2009) – Pirates attacked a trawler, killed three of its crew and took hostage two more off Basilan island in the southern Philippines, officials said on Saturday.

“We condemn this attack and the authorities are now searching for those taken by pirates,” Al Rasheed Sakkalahul, Basilan’s deputy governor, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the attack occurred late Thursday. Quoting police reports, he said pirates opened fire of the fishing boat and boarded the vessel and killed three crewmen. “We don’t know whether the two hostage are still alive or not,” Sakkalahul said.

Sakkalahul said authorities recovered the trawler, but it was apparently emptied and stripped off of important parts. He said he ordered maritime police and the marines to intensify patrols at sea following the pirate attack.

No group claimed responsibility for the hijacking, but the attacks on trawlers and fishermen are not uncommon at sea around Basilan because rebel groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf are actively operating in the province, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.

Breakaway MILF and Abu Sayyaf factions, including former rebels from the Moro National Liberation Front, and criminal gangs are also operating in Basilan.

In January, Abu Sayyaf gunmen intercepted a small boat carrying state teachers off Zamboanga City and seized the trio and brought them by boat to Basilan. (Mindanao Examiner)