A Swiss man kidnapped by Islamic militants in the southern Philippines nearly three years ago escaped under fire today as soldiers attacked his abductors in a remote jungle, the military said.
Lorenzo Vinciguerra was cut with a machete then shot at while running from the Abu Sayyaf gunmen on the lawless island of Jolo, but reached the Filipino troops with only minor injuries, military chiefs said.
"He ran while the bandits were shooting at him, but he got away," local military commander Colonel Alan Arrojado told AFP.
However a Dutch man who was abducted with Vinciguerra, Ewold Horn, had been unable to run away because he was too frail and was believed to still be a captive, according to Arrojado.
Arrojado said his troops, acting on a tip, had tracked the Abu Sayyaf gunmen in thick jungle near Patikul, a town on Jolo that is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.
"It was in the jungle, in the darkness. I sent a message to the Scout Rangers that they should not shoot randomly. Sure enough, we encountered them," Arrojado told AFP.
Vinciguerra told soldiers that he had killed one of his abductors in a struggle over a machete while trying to escape, Arrojado and national military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said.
However the body of the bandit reported to have been killed was not found after the clash, and it was not possible to immediately determine if Vinciguerra's statement was correct, they told AFP.
Arrojado said Vinciguerra also told the military that Horn had been unable to run due to a back injury.
He said his troops were still combing the area, a lawless region nearly 1,000 kilometres south of the capital of Manila, in hopes of finding the group holding Horn.
Five Abu Sayyaf fighters were also killed and seven others wounded as part of wider military operations against the group elsewhere in Jolo, a military statement said.
Vinciguerra and Horn were on an expedition to photograph rare birds on the remote Tawi-Tawi island group in the southern Philippines when they were abducted by unknown gunmen and turned over to the Abu Sayyaf.
At the time of their abductions, Vinciguerra was reported to be aged 47, and Horn was 52.
The Abu Sayyaf, a loose band of a few hundred militants founded with seed money from Al Qaeda, has been blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history.
These have included the bombing of a ferry in Manila in 2004 in which more than 100 people died, and repeated kidnappings of foreigners in the southern Philippines who are usually ransomed off for huge amounts.
Many foreign governments warn their citizens against travelling to the Tawi-Tawis and other islands in the southern Philippines that are regarded as strongholds for the Abu Sayyaf and other Islamic militants.
