Semporna resort kidnap: Philippine troops hunt gunmen, believed to be in Simunul

MANILA: Philippine soldiers have been deployed to a remote southern island where suspected Islamic militants are believed to have taken two female hostages seized from a resort in neighbouring Malaysia, the military said Friday.

The Abu Sayyaf, a small band of militants infamous for kidnappings for ransom, are the prime suspects in Wednesday's abductions of a Chinese tourist and a Filipina resort worker, armed forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said.