Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to eat alive the Islamist militants behind the abduction and beheadings of two Vietnamese sailors in a furious reaction to the killings.<\/p>\n
The remains of the two hostages, who were kidnapped along with four other crew members of a Vietnamese cargo ship in November last year, were recovered off the southern region of Mindanao by Philippine troops on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The military blamed the killings on the notorious kidnap-for-ransom Abu Sayyaf group with a stronghold in the area, and which is known to behead its hostages unless ransom payments are made.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will eat your liver if you want me to. Give me salt and vinegar and I will eat it in front of you,\u201d Duterte said in a speech before local officials late Wednesday, adding \u201cI eat everything. I am not picky. I eat even what cannot be swallowed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holding up a mobile phone with a photo of the slain Vietnamese sailors, Duterte angrily cursed the militants. \u201cWill we allow ourselves to be enslaved by these people? Son of a whore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duterte, 72, ordered a military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf and other militants in the southern Philippines last year.<\/p>\n
Abu Sayyaf, originally a loose network of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden\u2019s Al-Qaeda network, has splintered into factions, with some continuing to engage in banditry and kidnappings.<\/p>\n
One faction has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, and joined militants battling security forces since late May in Marawi, the largely Catholic nation\u2019s most important Islamic city.<\/p>\n
The militants continue to occupy parts of the southern city despite a US-backed military offensive there that has claimed more than 460 lives and displaced nearly 400,000 people.<\/p>\n
Duterte often uses extreme language, particularly when talking about Islamist militants.<\/p>\n
Last year, the leader said he would eat Abu Sayyaf militants alive in a bloodthirsty vow of revenge following a bombing in Davao, his southern home city that claimed 15 lives.<\/p>\n
Duterte said Vietnam had raised concern about a series of high-seas kidnappings blamed on the Abu Sayyaf when he visited Hanoi last year.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Vietnam\u2019s foreign ministry condemned the killing of the two sailors as it called for heavy punishment.<\/p>\n
One of the six crewmen was rescued last month and three remain in captivity according to the Philippine military.<\/p>\n
It says Abu Sayyaf militants are holding a total of 22 hostages, including eight other Vietnamese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to eat alive the Islamist militants behind the abduction and beheadings of two Vietnamese sailors in a furious reaction to the killings. The remains of the two hostages, who were kidnapped along with four other crew members of a Vietnamese cargo ship in November last year, were recovered off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":67122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2],"tags":[37889,29,11302,37888],"yoast_head":"\n