Gunmen kidnap tourists and local woman in Philippines

The Norwegian abductees was said to be the manager of the resort while the identity of the Filipino woman has not been identified.

Caber says the gunmen appeared to have specifically targeted the victims when they entered the Holiday Oceanview Samal Resort late Monday on the northern tip of the island, about 975 kilometers (610 miles) southeast of Manila. Two Japanese nationals are hurt after they fought off the armed men who tried to kidnap them as well.

A police and coast guard operation was underway to search and intercept the gunman’s boat, while other authorities were being sent to possible landing areas.

Initial police investigation revealed that at 11:23 p.m. last night “more or less 11 men, wearing civilian attire with backpack and bandolier, armed with two long firearms and short firearms, on board two motorized bancas docked at the resort”.

Capt. Alberto Caber, spokesperson of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, had initially identified three of the victims as Canadians John Ridsel and Robert Hall, and Kjartan Sekkingstad, a Norwegian.

Police Regional Director Wendy del Rosario said authorities will hold a conference on Tuesday, September 22, to coordinate action on the abduction.

Caber said the abductions took place on Monday evening.

A 2001 raid led by Islamist rebels to kidnap tourists on Samal Island’s Pearl Farm resort failed, but three security personnel were killed during the attack.

The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs said the federal government is aware of reports that Canadians were kidnapped in the Philippines and is “pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information”.

The group seized dozens of Filipino hostages on Basilan and 21 people, mostly European tourists, from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan in 2000, and abducted three Americans and 17 Filipinos in 2001 from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province south west of Manila.

The 400-strong Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), founded in the early 1990s, is a violent terrorist group operating in the southern Philippines.