2000 Sipadan kidnappings
| Sipadan kidnappings of 2000 | |
|---|---|
| Part of Islamic insurgency in the Philippines and Cross border attacks in Sabah | |
 Sipadan
Sipadan (Malaysia)
Location of Sipadan Island in Malaysia
|
|
| Location | Sipadan , Malaysia and Jolo, Philippines |
| Coordinates | 4°06′53″N 118°37′44″E / 4.114683°N 118.628756°ECoordinates: 4°06′53″N 118°37′44″E / 4.114683°N 118.628756°E |
| Date | 23 April 2000 – 19 September 2000 (UTC+8) |
| Target | Local and foreign tourists |
|
Attack type
|
Hostage situation |
| Weapons | Automatic weapons, grenades and rocket propelled grenades |
| Deaths | None |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
Several |
| Perpetrators | Abu Sayyaf |
The 2000 Sipadan kidnappings was a hostage crisis in Sabah, Malaysia, and the southern Philippines that began with the seizing of twenty-one hostages from the dive resort island of Sipadan at approximately 6:15 p.m. (UTC +8) on 23 April 2000, by up to six Abu Sayyaf (ASG) bandits. Taken hostage were 10 tourists from Europe and the Middle East and 11 Malaysian resort workers, 19 non-Filipino nationals in total. The hostages were taken to an Abu Sayyaf base in Jolo, Sulu.
During the hostage taking, Abu Sayyaf issued various demands for the release of several prisoners, including 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, $2.4 million and a complete withdrawal of government troops from the area around Jolo where the hostages were being held.
The Philippine Army launched a major offensive on 16 September 2000, rescuing all remaining hostages, except Filipino dive instructor Roland Ullah. Ullah was eventually freed in 2003.
On 23 April 2000, six men armed with assault rifles and several rocket-propelled grenades arrive by a speedboat on the Sipadan resort island off the eastern coast of Borneo. They proceed to abduct 21 individuals from the dining hall where dinner was being served. The hostages include a Malaysian police officer, three Germans, two French, two South Africans, two Finns and a Lebanese citizen were herded onto the boats with nine Malaysian and two Filipino resort workers. An American couple and a local marine photographer managed to evade capture unharmed.
During the abduction the hostages were allegedly robbed of their money and jewelry before being forced at gunpoint to swim to the boat waiting offshore. The hostages were then allegedly transported about an hour away to Jolo island, in the Sulu Archipelago of the southern Philippines. Once on Jolo, the captives were allegedly held captive by up to 200 Abu Sayyaf bandits under the command of a Commander 'Robot', a pseudonym of Galib Andang.
...
Wikipedia