DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Gunmen kidnapped anew seven people in southern Philippines late Thursday afternoon, the military said on Friday.

Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, regional military spokesperson, said the victims were riding a vehicle when another vehicle blocked them in Norte village, Matanog town, in Mindanao' s Maguindanao province.

"The suspects forced the victims at gunpoint to another vehicle and then sped off to an unknown direction," Cabangbang told Xinhua in an interview, adding military and police are now tracking down the victims and their captors.

Police spokesperson, Agrimero Cruz, said they have yet to establish the identities of the victims and the suspects as well as the motive of the abduction.

The kidnapping happened in a violence-wracked region in the resources-rich Mindanao island, where powerful political clans and extortion gangs roam.

Last November, 57 people, including women, lawyers and journalists were abducted and murdered by about 100 gunmen loyal to a powerful Muslim warlord in the province in what is considered the worst political massacre in the Philippines.