The Abu Sayyaf Group beheaded Canadian Hostage. His head was dumped outside the Jolo City Hall. Jolo is a jungle island known to be the stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Filipino authorities identified the victim as John Ridsdel, He was kidnapped 7 months ago along with another Canadian man, a Norwegian and a Filipina woman. "This was an act of cold-blooded murder and responsibility rests with the terrorist group who took him hostage," Trudeau said in Ottawa. They were abducted in Marina in Davao, around 300 miles from Jolo. Six weeks after the abduction, gunmen released a video of their hostages demanding $21 million each for the safe release of the 3 foreigners. In the most recent video, Ridsdel said his captors would kill him on April 25 if a ransom of $6.4 million was not paid. After the deadline, police said two people on a motorbike dropped the head near city hall on Jolo.
Canada is now working with the Philippine Authorities to pursue the killers. Philippine Security Forces were setting up checkpoints to block the movements of the group.Most recently, 18 Filipino soldiers were killed on April 9 when they encountered the Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Basilan. Abu Sayyaf is a radical muslim group waging violence since 1970 claiming more than 100,000 lives.
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