Philippine authorities are searching for two Americans and one Filipino who were abducted by gunmen in the middle of the night Tuesday local time, according to media reports.
Around 3 a.m. Tuesday, 14 gunmen suspected of belonging to militant Muslim group Abu Sayyaf, abducted the three from a resort on the island of Tictabon and sped them away on motorized pump boats in the direction of Basilan Province, where the group has a power base.
Muslim secessionist group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), formed a rescue team Wednesday to help the Filipino government find the victims.
The kidnapped were identified by Zamboanga city police chief, Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo; a 50-year-old naturalized American woman, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann; her 14-year-old son, Kevin Eric Lunsmann; and her 19-year-old Filipino nephew, Romnick Jakaria.
The U.S. State Department had not confirmed the kidnappings online Wednesday.
According to a report by security firm Clayton Consultants Inc., the Philippines have a reputation for being the kidnap capital of Asia.
Abu Sayyaf in particular targets Western citizens for ransom and as political leverage and MILF kidnaps for ransom, according to the report.
A member of MILF, Von Al Haq, blamed Abu Sayyaf for Tuesday’s kidnappings, saying that MILF had nothing to do with it, according to the Philippine Star.
