-
Philippines flag -
Related
Gunmen intercepted a boat carrying teachers on a work break off the southern Philippines on Friday and abducted three of them, an official said.
About 10 teachers assigned to a school on an island near Zamboanga City were returning home early on Friday when their boat was intercepted by four men armed with assault rifles, Mayor Celso Lobregat told reporters.
"We have alerted the Philippine Navy ... they could still be near the area," Lobregat said, adding it was premature to blame any group for the abduction.
The kidnapping came a week after three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were taken at gunpoint on Jolo, an island about 150 km south of Zamboanga, where al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants were operating.
Police said negotiations were underway for the release of the Red Cross captives but they declined comment on any ransom or political demands made by the gunmen.
Andreas Notter, a 38-year-old Swiss national; Eugenio Vagni, a 62-year-old Italian; and Mary Jean Lacaba, a 37-year-old Filipina were abducted on January 15 a few hundred metres from a prison where they had inspected a water and sanitation project.
Last year about 30 kidnappings were reported in Muslim areas in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country, more than half of them Jolo and Basilan islands, where Islamic militants are active.
Police said these kidnappings were believed to be carried out by the Abu Sayyaf. The group, which has been linked to Jemaah Islamiah and is believed to be sheltering Indonesians wanted for the 2002 Bali bombings, is notorious for kidnapping and demanding large ransoms.
Based on Jolo and nearby Basilan, the group is said to have about 350 members and has the support of majority of the Muslim-dominated local residents, but it has been largely dormant since its top leaders died in a series of military encounters in late 2006 and early 2007.
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
