Zamboanga City, Philippines - Three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, including a Swiss national, were abducted by unidentified gunmen in the southern Philippines on Thursday.

The Red Cross team was lead by Andrea Notter, a Swiss citizen, according to Lieutenant General Nelson Allaga, a regional military commander.

The identities of the other team members have not yet been confirmed.

Allaga said the Red Cross workers were supposed to board a flight out of Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, but they did not make it.

"We immediately issued an alarm, and hot pursuit is ongoing to track down the kidnappers," he said.

Jolo island is a stronghold of al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebel group, who have been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf is also notorious for high-profile kidnapping-for-ransom cases, including the kidnapping of foreign tourists from a Malaysian resort island in 2000. (dpa)