Abu Sayyaf Armed Group Freed A Norwegian Hostage Sekkingstad After A Ransom Was Paid

For almost a year after a ransom was paid,Kjartan Sekkingstad, 56, was handed over on Jolo Island, around 1000km south of Manila on Saturday, after Abu Sayyaf received $638,000 in ransom for Sekkingstad’s release, Abu Ramie, a spokesman for the armed group said.

Abu Sayyaf, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS), has entrenched its network in recent years with vast sums of ransom money. The group released fourteen Indonesian hostages earlier this year after negotiations and ransom terms were met.

Felimon Tan, a regional military spokesman, said the latest releases were “an offshoot of the ongoing military operations to sustain pressure against” Abu Sayyaf.

Sekkingstad was kidnapped with two Canadians and a Filipino woman in September from the southern island of Samal.“Simultaneous land, air, naval and police operations complemented each other putting pressure on the Abu Sayyaf,” the DPA news agency quoted Tan as saying.

In April and June, the Canadians, John Ridsdel, 68, and Robert Hall, 67, were beheaded after ransoms were not paid, while the Filipina, Marites Flor, was released.

After the swearing-in of President Rodrigo Duterte on June 30, the country’s new military chief warned of a “shock and awe” offensive to wipe out Abu Sayaff.

The United States and the Philippines have separately blacklisted the group as a “terrorist” organisation for bombings, extortion, kidnappings for ransom, and beheadings of locals and foreigners, including Christian missionaries in the south.