A hostage escaped barefoot from her Al-Qaeda-linked captors as they tried to evade a marine offensive that killed three kidnappers in the southern Philippines, officials said Sunday. The Filipino woman, who was abducted by Abu Sayyaf militants on Feb. 3 on Basilan Island, ran from her captors' jungle hideout late Saturday and was found by villagers before dawn Sunday in Sumisip township, navy Rear Admiral Alex Pama said. Lea Laping Patris is the latest of several hostages to escape from the Abu Sayyaf, a small but brutal Moro rebel group that is on a US list of terrorist organizations because of its links to Al-Qaeda and involvement in kidnappings, beheadings and bombings. Basilan Vice Gov. Al-Rasheed Sakalahul said LPatris, a loan collector from Kasanyangan Foundation, was found by a villager named Malikil and brought to the police in Sumisip town. “Patris is weak and tired, but she is doing fine and with the military now,” Sakalahul said. The Abu-Sayyaf has been weakened by years-long US-backed offensives, but security officials worry that kidnappings for ransom could revive the group and have been cracking down. At least 13 militants and allied gunmen have been killed and five others captured in the weeks-long offensive, Pama said. Although exhausted from four months of jungle captivity, Patris sensed that her kidnappers were distracted by a two-day marine offensive that killed three Abu Sayyaf gunmen Friday in nearby Tipo Tipo township. Patris, 29, said she tricked her captors after they went to sleep late Saturday by putting all her belongings on a hammock and her sandals below it, to make it appear she was sound asleep. She then fled down a jungle trail and walked barefoot into town. “I couldn't believe that I have escaped, that this is not a dream,” Patris told reporters. She said the Abu Sayyaf militants did not hurt her, but added she suffered in her first week in the jungle when she was given food only once a day. Pama, who heads a regional anti-kidnapping force, denied speculation that Patris was freed on ransom. The kidnappers “felt the pressure from our operations,” Pama said. “We've overran one lair, killed three kidnappers and we were nearing theirs.” “They (bandits) scampered and escaped, enabling Leah Patris to escape,” Pama told reporters. Abu Sayyaf militants and their allied gunmen are still holding at least two fishermen in Basilan, about 550 miles (880 kilometers) south of Manila, and an Italian Red Cross worker on nearby Jolo Island.
