MANILA, Oct 18, 2024 (AFP) - Gunmen have abducted an American man living in the southern Philippines, shooting him in the leg and ferrying him away in a boat, police said Friday.

The victim, named by police as Elliot Onil Eastman, was "forcibly taken" late Thursday in Mindanao, a southern island wracked in previous decades by Muslim insurgencies and ransom kidnappings that have since waned.

A police report said the four gunmen introduced themselves as police officers and shot the victim in the leg when he resisted and attempted to flee.

They then dragged the wounded man onto a boat that sped off the coast of Sibuco municipality.

A US embassy spokesman in Manila told reporters it was "aware of the reports and are coordinating with local authorities", declining further comment.

"Based on the initial profile given to us, he (Eastman) got married to a local in the area. He has been there for about five months," regional police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Helen Galvez told AFP.

"So far, no one is asking for a ransom," she said, adding the suspects have yet to be identified.

Philippine military spokeswoman Francel Margareth Padilla told reporters they are ready to assist the police in tracking the kidnappers and their victim.