Manila - The Philippine military ruled out force for the time being to rescue three staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) being held captive by Muslim militants on a southern island, an armed forces spokesman said Wednesday.

Brigadier General Gaudencio Pangilinan said the aim of the military was to rescue Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba "without any violence."

The three ICRC staff were seized on January 15 by al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels shortly after visiting the Sulu provincial jail on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.

"We have troops all over driving them into a contained area where we can probably give them an ultimatum to give up," Pangilinan said. "As much as possible, we are avoiding any engagement in order not to endanger the hostages."

Hundreds of government security forces were deployed in Indanan town on Jolo where the rebels were believed to be holding the three captives.

On Monday a firefight erupted between government troops and Abu Sayyaf rebels in Indanan, killing two guerrillas and wounding 10 soldiers.

Pangilinan said Monday's firefight broke out when some guerrillas attempted to break a cordon set up by the military around them.

"We just don't fire unless fired upon, that's very clear to our troops," he said.

Pangilinan added that based on information received by the military, the three hostages were not harmed during Monday's firefight.

The Abu Sayyaf group has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks and high-profile kidnappings in the Philippines.

In 2000, the Abu Sayyaf abducted 21 European tourists and Asian workers from a Malaysian resort island and brought them to Jolo. The hostages were ransomed off for millions of dollars before they were freed months later.

The following year, a separate band of Abu Sayyaf rebels seized 17 Filipino vacationers and three American tourists from a western Philippine resort. Most of the hostages were later rescued or ransomed off, but two of the Americans were killed. (dpa)