Islamic State-linked militants kill Dutch wildlife photographer in Philippines
- Elwold Horn, 59, from Holland, was captured in 2012 and held captive by the Abu Sayyaf group
- He was killed while trying to escape during a firefight between government forces and his captors
Elwold Horn, 59, from Holland, was shot by his captors after a firefight broke out on Friday between government security forces and militants belonging to the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group on the island of Sulu.
Six militants were killed, twelve wounded in the fighting when troops from the 32nd Infantry Battalion raided the militants’ hideout in the village of Pansul, Patikul township shortly before 8am, said regional military spokesman Colonel Gerry Besana.
Besana said Horn had escaped his captors when the fighting erupted but one of his guards followed and killed him.
“He suffered several bullet wounds. The operating troops actually had no idea he was there,” Besana said.
The firefight continued for an hour and a half, he said.
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said the Netherlands had informed Horn’s family.
“I am shocked by this terrible outcome”, Blok said, “I have been in contact with the family. I will ask my counterpart in the Philippines for further clarification.”
Horn was captured in February 1, 2012, when five armed gunmen boarded the boat carrying him and his companion, Lorenzo Vinciguerra from Switzerland, in Panglima Sugala township. Their Filipino guide, Ivan Sarenas, was able to escape. In December 2014, Vinciguerra, using a jungle knife, killed one of his guards and escaped. He was recovered by government security forces.
Earlier this week, the police commander in Sulu, Pablo Labra, said Horn may have been suffering from Stockholm syndrome, a condition in which hostages develop an attachment to their captors as part of a survival strategy.
“Our men spotted him carrying a weapon with his captors recently,” Labra had said, adding he had received a report that Horn was fighting alongside Abu Sayyaf. “We will continue our effort to rescue him but if he engages with our police we have no other choice but to fight back,” he had said.
The Abu Sayyaf group is believed to be holding eight other captives, including a Vietnamese, a Malaysian, two Indonesians, and three Filipinos, on the island.
It is the smallest, but considered the most brutal, of several armed groups that operate in the restive south. Three years ago, it beheaded two Canadian hostages and a German captive after their governments refused to pay ransoms.
Additional reporting by Reuters