Body of beheaded German hostage recovered

Philippine troops were on patrol in the mountainous hinterlands of Indanan town in the remote southern province of Sulu, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Manila on Saturday evening, when they discovered the 70-year-old's head and body.

The German national's remains have been turned over to a military hospital morgue for processing and preservation, regional military commander Major General Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

Kantner was beheaded on February 26 by the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group after a ransom of 30 million pesos ($600,000, 565,000 euros) was not paid before a deadline set by his captors.

Held for three months

Kantner was seized by militants on November 5 from his yacht in the southern Philippines.

The group shot dead his 59-year-old wife after she fought back and her body was left on the boat.

Kantner had appealed for help twice in short video messages, saying he would be killed if the ransom was not paid. A video was later released showing his beheading, to the outrage of the German government.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has apologized to Germany for failing to save Kantner while insisting that ransoms should not be paid.

"This government will leave no stone unturned in squarely addressing the evils of extremism and plain banditry," a presidential spokesman said in a statement on Sunday.

The military said at least 14 people were killed over the past two days as part of an offensive to hunt down Kantner's killers.

Abu Sayyaf, which has pledged allegiance to the "Islamic State" (IS) armed group, is believed to be holding at least 26 more hostages, including 12 Vietnamese sailors, seven Indonesians and a Dutch man who was kidnapped in 2012.

Blamed for the nation's worst terrorist attacks, the group has made millions of dollars in ransom money and colluded with corrupt local officials to defy decades of military operations.

mm/jlw (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)