HANOI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnamese foreign ministry has strongly condemned the murder of two Vietnamese citizens by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.
Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Hong Nam said that after being informed of the murder of the sailors suspected to be Vietnamese on Tuesday in the Philippines, the ministry summoned a charge d'affaires of the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi on Wednesday, Vietnam News Agency reported on Friday.
At the same time, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines contacted the host country's authorized agencies to ask for coordination to preserve the bodies and identify the victims, he said.
The two victims were confirmed to be Hoang Trung Thong and Hoang Van Hai, two Vietnamese sailors of Vietnamese cargo ship Royal 16 who had been kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf in November 2016.
On June 22, Hoang Vo, one of the Royal 16 sailors kidnapped by the terrorist group in November 2016, was rescued and returned home.
