4 Filipinos Abducted By ISIS In Libya Oilfield Attack
From a verified report, there were 4 Filipinos abducted by ISIS in Libya oilfield attack in the oil-rich province of Sirte Basin. Other nationals were also kidnapped.
Nov 27, 20231172 Shares50976 Views
There were 4 Filipinos abducted by ISIS in Libya oilfield attack.
Heavily armed militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or simply Islamic State, as the terror group calls itself, attacked the Al-Ghani oilfield in Sirte Basin in central Libya on March 6, 2015.
Eight security guards got killed and the group also abducted nine foreign workers, including four Filipinos.
The latest terror attack brings the number of Filipinos nabbed by jihadists linked to ISIS to seven.
Last month, three Filipinos were also nabbed by militants during an attack at the Mabruk oilfield.
Abduction Confirmed
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary and Spokesperson Charles Jose told reporters in a press conference that the four Filipinos are working for Value Added Oilfield Services (VAOS).
VAOS is an Austrian company headquartered in Tripoli that offers construction services to oil companies.
Citing secure information, the spokesperson for the Austrian Foreign Ministry confirmed the abduction.
The unnamed Austrian spokesperson said that nine foreign workers from the Philippines, Bangladesh, and the Czech Republic and one African nation were taken by the attackers believed to be ISIS.
The spokesperson also said:
“„We know that they were not injured when they were transported away from the Al-Ghani oilfield.- spokesperson for the Austrian Foreign Ministry
The spokesperson added that based on the information they gathered, the workers were taken away by Islamic State militants.
Repatriation And Expatriation
According to Secretary Jose, the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli is now coordinating with the Libyan authorities and VAOS in locating the abducted workers.
Prior to the Al-Ghani attack, 52 Filipinos working for the Austrian company had been evacuated.
Sec. Jose added that 36 of those Filipinos said that they would like to be repatriated.
The DFA has already spoken to the families of the four abducted Filipinos to inform them about their relatives.
In addition, the department has imposed a total deployment ban and mandatory expatriation on Libya since July 2014.
However, despite the mandatory expatriation, many Filipino workers chose to remain in Libya for economic reasons. They are lured by salaries they cannot expect to receive in the Philippines.
An estimated 4,000 Filipinos are still in Libya.
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