JOLO, Philippines, Aug 21 (AFP) - Eight Filipino salesmen were abducted by Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas in their first raid in 10 months amid intense military pressure on their southern Philippines strongholds, officials said Wednesday.

Two men among the eight were later freed unharmed, but five women and one man remain in the hands of the gunmen, military and police officials in the area said.

The two turned up in a police station in Patikul town and reported that gunmen had flagged down their vehicle and ordered the two to get off before speeding away with the other six captives, southern Philippine military chief Lieutenant General Ernesto Carolina said.

He did not give further details.

The kidnapping of the group, all sales personnel for cosmetics and other personal care products, is the first since October.

In the first seven months of 2002, US troops conducted a joint operation on nearby Basilan island aimed at crippling the Abu Sayyaf.

Carolina said the salesmen were abducted on Tuesday by two men who were identified as followers of Moin Sahiron, a nephew of senior Abu Sayyaf chieftain Radulan Sahiron.

They were "abducted by Commander Moin, an Abu Sayyaf nephew of Commander Radulan," Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes told reporters in Manila.

"We have directed the armed forces to take the appropriate action."

Patikul is a stronghold of the one-armed Sahiron, a veteran of past Muslim separatist wars in the south.

Noting that the victims were not wealthy and could not pay any substantial ransom, Golez said the Abu Sayyaf might have seized them to use as "human shields" against the military offensive.

The latest kidnapping took place as Filipino troops shelled suspected lairs of the Abu Sayyaf in Patikul as part of a larger offensive aimed at ridding the southern Philippines of the kidnapping problem.

The eight sales personnel were on their way back to Jolo town when they allowed two hitchhikers to board the vehicle. Later, the two hitchhikers pulled out pistols and announced they were abducting the group.

The US and Philippine governments have linked the Abu Sayyaf to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, suspected mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.

The Philippine military in June rescued a US hostage, Gracia Burnham, from the Abu Sayyaf but her husband Martin, and Filipina hostage Ediborah Yap were killed by the rebels as the soldiers approached.

Days later, Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya, who was responsible for the Americans' abduction, was reported killed in a high-seas clash with pursuing troops aided by US spy technology. However, his body has not been recovered.

Jolo is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, but the island was not the focus of the US military's joint operation in the south.

The military had estimated that almost 200 Abu Sayyaf members are still active on Jolo.

Another small group of former Muslim separatists who have turned to banditry is believed to be holding three kidnapped Indonesian sailors elsewhere on Jolo.

The Indonesians were seized from a Singaporean coal barge off the coast of Basilan island on June 17.

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