ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- A Philippine government engineer was abducted Wednesday morning by the Abu Sayyaf militant group on his way to work in Jolo, capital town of Sulu, according to local officials.
The victim was identified as Enrico Nee, assigned with the Department of Public Works and Highways - Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Sulu 1st district engineering Office based in Jolo town.
Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, said the victim was abducted by gunmen aboard a jeepney colored black and red at about 7:45 a.m. local time in the vicinity of a village, just near his house.
Police investigation disclosed the victim was waiting for a tricycle cab ride when one of the gunmen alighted from their vehicle and at gunpoint seized Nee and dragged him towards their vehicle.
The suspects with their victim immediately escaped towards the area of Patikul town, a place known to have strong presence of the Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu.
Sobejana said troops and police were immediately alerted and conducted pursuit operation but found no trace of the victim.
The military believed the abduction could be part of Abu Sayyaf group's threat to conduct kidnapping activity.
The abduction of Nee brought anew the number of kidnap victims to 10 . The victims include one Dutch national, a Vietnamese, three Indonesians and five Filipinos.
Police said relentless pursuit continued for the rescue of Nee and the remaining hostages still held by the Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu.
Formed in the 1990s, the Abu Sayyaf group is notorious for carrying out kidnapping-for-ransom preying on both foreigners and Filipinos, and known for bombings and brutality, including beheadings.
Several foreign kidnap victims were beheaded last year after failing to pay millions of dollars of ransom, including Vietnamese, German and Canadian hostages.