Jakarta – Indonesian officials investigating forest fires were taken hostage and threatened with death by a mob allegedly linked to a palm oil company, prompting activists Monday to decry a law enforcement crisis.

A seven-strong team on Sumatra island, which is afflicted with serious fires during the dry season every year, were probing why blazes were burning out of control despite the government’s attempts to combat them.

But as they examined a plantation where a company called Andika Permata Sawit Lestari (APSL) was suspected of using fires to illegally clear land, a 100-strong gang forced them to delete photos and then took them hostage.

They mob – suspected to be APSL employees – threatened to beat them, kill them and dump their bodies in a nearby river. They were finally released unharmed after 12 hours when police intervened, according to the environment ministry.

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The case highlights the difficulty Indonesia faces in fighting fires that flare annually on Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo. The blazes are set to clear land for palm oil and pulpwood plantations, shrouding Southeast Asia in toxic smog.

Last year’s fires were among the worst in living memory. For weeks they cloaked large parts of Indonesia, as well as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, with haze that caused tens of thousands to fall ill and disrupted air travel.

Indonesia has cracked down on illegal burning by strengthening regulations and arresting hundreds accused over the practice.

But laws set by the central government are often flouted across the archipelago of over 17,000 islands where power is heavily decentralised and corruption rife, and many fires still occur every year

Greenpeace said the hostage-taking showed how Jakarta’s response to the blazes was “being hampered by a crisis in law enforcement”.

Yuyun Indradi, Greenpeace Indonesia Forest Campaigner, said the group “calls on the president to send a clear message on forest fire law enforcement — that he supports, and expects maximum effort from, the minister for environment and forestry and the chief of national police”.

Indonesia president Joko Widodo cuts short US trip due to haze

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The team were taken hostage late Friday after the mob forced them to delete pictures of alleged illegal burning. The environment minister said she suspected they were employees of the plantation owner.

While the pictures taken by the team on the ground were deleted, others captured by a drone were saved and the ministry believes it has evidence that fires were illegally started.

APSL could not be reached for comment.

Six Indonesian provinces have issued an alert due to the rising number of fires, prompting planes and helicopters to be deployed to combat the blazes.

However the fires have not been as serious this year as in 2015, with city-state Singapore suffering just one day of serious haze so far.

Read also: First outbreak of haze hits Singapore in August

Davao, Philippines – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called Barack Obama a “son of a whore” on Monday as he vowed not to be lectured by the US leader on human rights when they meet in Laos.

The acid-tongued Duterte bristled at warnings he would face questioning by the US president over a crime war in the Philippines that has claimed more than 2,400 lives in just over two months.

“You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum,” Duterte told a news conference shortly before flying to Laos to attend the summit.

“We will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me.”

Duterte sworn in as Philippines’ 16th president

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Read also: All eyes on Duterte’s international debut at Asean summit

Duterte was due to hold a bilateral meeting with Obama on Tuesday afternoon on the sidelines of a summit of global leaders hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, the Lao capital.

But shortly after Duterte spoke, Obama appeared to cast doubt on whether such a meeting could take place.

Calling Duterte “a colourful guy”, the US president said he was asking his staff to find out whether a meeting would be useful.

“I always want to make sure if I’m having a meeting that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done,” he told reporters.

Duterte was elected in May after a promise to wage an unprecedented war on illegal drugs that would see tens of thousands of suspects killed.

Official figures released Sunday show that, since Duterte took office on June 30, over 2,400 people have been killed in police anti-drug operations and by suspected vigilantes.

Duterte has angrily rejected criticism from the Catholic Church, human rights groups, legislators and the United Nations.

Duterte vowed Monday the bloodbath would continue as he pursued his goal of eradicating illegal drugs in the Philippines.

“More people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets. Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and I will continue,” he said.

Duterte insisted he would not take orders from the United States, a former colonial ruler of the Philippines, and did not care about how he was perceived.

“I don’t give a s**t about anybody observing my behaviour,” he said.

Read also: Many fear to talk about Duterte’s war against crime

Anti-crime blitz sweeps Philippines as Duterte comes into power

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Duterte also used vulgar language to accuse his domestic critics of wanting to please the United States.

“There are others who have the mental capacity of dogs who lap at the a** of the Americans,” he said in reference to his critics.

Duterte is notorious for using offensive language.

During the election campaign Duterte described the US ambassador to Manila as a “son of a whore” and being homosexual.

This was in response to the ambassador’s criticism of Duterte for making a joke about wanting to rape a “beautiful” Australian missionary who was killed in a Filipino jail.

Read also:

Duterte apologises after calling Pope Francis ‘son of a whore’

Infamous quotes of Duterte