Unidentified gunmen abducted an Italian missionary last night from a remote town in Zamboanga del Sur province, about 150 km east of this southern port city, police and military said.

Police said gunmen seized Fr Giuseppi Piarantoni, who is in his mid-40s, from the town of Dimataling shortly before 7 p.m., but details of the abduction were not made available immediately.

But the military's Southern Command said eight gunmen dragged the priest after his mass in the town's church called Sacred Heart but no other details were released.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest kidnapping, but authorities suspect the Abu Sayyaf could be behind the incident.

"Police forces are conducting a pursuit operation and check-points have been activated in most parts of Zamboanga del Sur province and the possible escape routes of the gunmen," the deputy regional police chief, Senior Supt Julmunier Jubail, told reporters.

He noted: "We are doing our best and the police is now investigating this incident. We still do not know who was behind the abduction."

Southern Command chief, Lt-Gen Roy Cimatu, said he had alerted military forces in the province and that troops were tracking down the kidnappers.

"There is an ongoing pursuit operation and the military in that area has been alerted about this incident and right now we are still investigating who is behind the abduction," he noted.

The Pontifical Insituto for Foreign Missions (PIME) based here said Piarantoni was not a member of the organisation. "He is from the Sacred Heart, that is what I know of him," said an Italian priest, who did not give his name.