InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Philippine security forces rescued a Chinese hostage and killed five Islamic militants Friday during a raid in the south, police said.
Lin Yuankai was unharmed after a joint navy and police special forces team stormed the training camp of the Al Qaeda-linked group Abu Sayyaf on the mountainous outskirts of the port city of Zamboanga, regional police chief Napoleon Estilles said.
"The victim ran towards the police forces' position shouting, 'Chinese! Chinese!'," Chief Superintendent Estilles said.
Lin, who works for a Chinese metals trading firm that buys ore in the troubled southern region of Mindanao, was abducted along with a compatriot at their rented apartment in the nearby province of Zamboanga-Sibugay in June.
The second hostage, Lu Jian, was freed unharmed in Zamboanga City last month following negotiations between his company and the kidnappers, the authorities said.
Estilles said five Abu Sayyaf kidnappers were killed in the raid, including a woman.
Another male suspect was arrested, and an unspecified number of other suspects escaped, he added.
Lin was the third Chinese hostage to be rescued in Mindanao this week.
Police rescued two Chinese mining prospectors and killed a member of a local gang in a sting operation in San Francisco town on Monday.
Kidnapping is rampant in parts of Mindanao, where various armed groups, including Muslim insurgents, have operated for decades.
At least five foreigners -- a Dutchman, a Swiss national, an Australian, a Malaysian trader, and a Japanese man -- are believed to still be held there by Abu Sayyaf militants and other outlawed groups.
