High Alert Following Report of Abu Sayyaf Group Targeting High-Value Targets In/Around Sabah’s Mataking and Pom Pom Islands

September 30: The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) went on high alert following an intelligence report that indicated that nine Abu Sayyaf gunmen had left Jolo and were heading towards Sabah’s Mataking and Pom Pom islands in Semporna, intending on kidnapping high-value targets (focusing on tourists and crew members of fishing vessels.)

The intelligence report comes days after the September 23rd kidnapping of three fishermen by likely Abu Sayyaf members.

Source: The Star