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ZAMBOANGA, Philippines : Suspected Muslim extremists abducted a school principal on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, scene of the recent killing of two US soldiers, a military spokesman said on Tuesday.
About a dozen gunmen stopped a minibus carrying officials of the local school in Patikul town on Monday and took principal Gabriel Canizares, 36, Major Ramon David Hontiveros said.
"Mr. Canizares was with his co-teachers in the jeep, and he was the only one abducted," said Hontiveros.
"There is an operation going on to track down Mr. Canizares," he added.
The kidnappers are believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group that intelligence agencies have linked to the Al-Qaeda network.
Abu Sayyaf militants have been blamed for various bombing and kidnapping-for-ransom attacks including the abductions of school teachers.
The group has also been blamed for a roadside bombing late last month which killed two US troops and a Filipino soldier on Jolo.
Small groups of US military advisers are stationed on Jolo and elsewhere in the southern Philippines to train troops in how to combat the Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf, set up in the 1990s allegedly with money from Al-Qaeda, has been fighting for an independent Muslim homeland on Jolo and other areas of the southern Philippines.
- AFP /ls
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