Indonesia says 10 nationals held hostage after ship hijacked

Ten Indonesian citizens are being held hostage off the Philippines after their tugboat was hijacked by a militant group demanding ransom, officials said.

The company that owns the vessels has received two phone calls since Saturday from someone who claimed to be a member of the hard-line Abu Sayyaf rebel group asking for a ransom, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"We are waiting for co-ordinations that will decide whether the Philippine government will allow us to go there (southern Philippines)", Indonesian media Kompas quoted General Haiti as saying.

The region between Tawi-Tawi, Philippines and Sandakan, Malaysia has been a hotspot of AbU Sayyaf kidnappings in recent years.

"Our main priority at the moment is the safety of the 10 Indonesian hostages".

"The Foreign Minister has revealed that the location is in Philippine".

The tug, Brahma 12, and the Anand 12 barge were going from Sungai Putting in Kalimantan, which is the Indonesian part of Borneo island, to Batangas in the southern Philippines.

Reports showed the tugboat was headed to Manila from Jakarta, Indonesia when attacked by the Abu Sayyaf group and that the vessel was found moored at Languyan Island, Tawi-Tawi on Sunday.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf - armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles - has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.

Indonesia's foreign ministry is dealing with the matter in collaboration with the relevant agencies in Indonesia and the Philippines, Armanatha said.

Police commandos from Indonesia are standing by to launch a mission to rescue 10 of the country's seamen being held hostage by Abu Sayyaf militants in the Philippines. The abductors demand $1.07 in ransom.

The Indonesian offer came amid reports that concerned authorities in Manila and Jakarta have been holding "high level consultations" that could include the participation of the Indonesian military and police forces in the rescue operation.

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Source: Indonesia says 10 nationals held hostage after ship hijacked