Kidnappers slip past blockade in Philippines

Manhunt: Filipino Army colonel Harold Cabreros (left) and Police colonel Federico Dulay holding a sketch of an unidentified suspect believed to be one of the gunmen at a press conference in Davao city, southern Philippines. — EPA

SAMAL: Gunmen holding three foreigners and one Filipina hostage slipped past a naval cordon and escaped to remote mountains in the southern Philippines, leaving few clues to their identities, police said.

Elite army troops were trying to track the bandits while air force helicopters were readied for a possible rescue as the gunmen trekked into Davao Oriental province, a hotbed of rebels, said Senior Super­intendent Aaron Aquino, the region’s deputy police commander.