Islamist militant group Abu Sayyaf has captured five seafarers from a small tug off the Malaysian north coast.
Malaysian and Philippine authorities confirmed that the seamen have been taken hostages following a gunmen’s attack on the Serudong 3 tug.
According to local media reports, authorities do not believe that military action is the sole solution to the increasing aggressiveness shown by Abu Sayyaf.
This is at least the third attack conducted by the militant group in the past four months.
Security broker Asket reports that the captain of the tug managed to call his wife and told her that Abu Sayyaf is demanding a ransom of around $5m.
Ten seafarers were freed by Abu Sayyaf in May but no ransom was paid on this occasion.
Four more Malaysians were held during an attack that took place in March.
