"The incident in Sulu waters occurred in two stages on Monday, the first at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time and another at 12:45 p.m. local time by two different armed groups," Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Friday.

She did not provide further details, such as on the identity of the kidnappers.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said the first group of armed men had taken with them three crewmen, while four more were abducted by the following group. Arrmanatha declined to comment on whether the kidnappers were members of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.

Retno said the ministry had confirmed on Thursday that seven of the 13 crewmen aboard the tugboat Charles 001 and its barge Robby 152 were taken hostage, after reports of the kidnapping had spread earlier this week.

The remaining six crewmen were set free and were currently on their way back to Samarinda, East Kalimantan, where they had originally sailed from, she said.

Earlier this week, the wife of a sailor taken hostage said she had been contacted by her husband, who had told her that the crew members had been taken hostage by a faction of the Abu Sayyaf group. The kidnappers reportedly asked for a ransom of 20 million ringgit to release the hostages.

This is the third kidnapping of Indonesian sailors in Sulu waters. The previous two incidents, carried out by the notorious Abu Sayyaf group, ended with the release of the hostages following intensive negotiations. (bbn)

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