Headless body of kidnapped victim found in Philippines

Manila: The headless body of a Canadian who was kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf militant group in June has been recovered, a military official said on Saturday.

The body, believed to be that of Robert Hall, was found in a shallow grave in Sulu village, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hall`s severed head was recovered on June 13 inside a plastic bag left near a Roman Catholic church in Jolo, Sulu, a few hours after he was beheaded by the militants.

Last April, the group also beheaded Canadian John Ridsdel. The victim`s head was found near a police station inside the Jolo town hall premises.

Ridsdel, Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and a Filipino woman were kidnapped in a posh holiday resort in Davao del Norte on September 21, 2015. The woman was freed late in June.

The militants are still holding Sekkingstad.

Formed in the early 1990s, the Abu Sayyaf is a radical offshoot of a Muslim separatist insurgency in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines.