MANILA, Nov. 7 (UPI) — Abu Sayyaf, a militant Islamist organization that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, said it kidnapped a German couple, killing the woman.
Muammar Askali, a self-proclaimed Abu Sayyaf spokesperson, said the two Germans were kidnapped near Tawi-Tawi island in the Philippines’ autonomous Muslim region in the far south, close to Malaysia. He said Juegen Kantner, a male German sailor, was kidnapped, and his female companion, Sabina Wetch, was shot and killed.
“Unfortunately, the other one died. She tried to shoot us, so we shot her. She died,” Askali told the Inquirer.
Kantner told the Inquirer that he has asked the German embassy to help.
“Pirates took our boat and they took us,” Kantner said.
Abu Sayyaf, which was previously allied with al-Qaida, pledged loyalty to the Islamic State in 2014.
