The Abu Sayyaf terror group in southern Philippines has reportedly beheaded a Malaysian hostage.
Singapore’s Straits Times quotes Brigadier-General Alan Arrojado, commander of the Joint Task Group Sulu as saying that Bernard Then, 39, was beheaded around 4pm at a remote Abu Sayyaf stronghold in Jolo island, Sulu.
Then is the first Malaysian hostage to be killed by the terror group.
It was reported that the beheading was a result of Then’s family’s failure to meet with the demands made by militants during their negotiation.
“Accordingly, the body was immediately buried in the vicinity where they beheaded the victim,” Arrojado was quoted as saying.
The engineer was one of two people kidnapped from Sandakan’s popular Ocean King Seafood Restaurant on May 15. Restaurant manager Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, was released on Nov 8 after a ransom was paid.
According to the Straits Times, Then had sustained leg injuries and was seen as slowing down his captors.
Meanwhile, The Star Online reports that the Abu Sayyaf plan to release a video of the purported beheading soon.
Image via The Star Online
