Unidentified gunmen kidnapped three foreigners in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, residents said.

A Palestinian police source said those abducted in the town of Rafah were believed to be Britons, including a woman who worked with a local human-rights group. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Palestinian police said the kidnappers' car was spotted heading north, and that a pursuit was under way.

A representative of an EU force monitoring the Rafah border crossing to Egypt said he was unaware of the incident.

The incident was the latest in a series of abductions in Gaza that has undermined Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' attempts to establish order in the coastal strip following Israel's withdrawal this summer.

Recent kidnappings of foreigners in Gaza have ended without bloodshed and with the hostages being released unharmed.

In most cases, the kidnappers were seeking jobs in the Palestinian security forces, the release of imprisoned relatives or other personal matters. Abbas' critics have accused him of giving in to kidnappers' demands, thereby encouraging more abductions.

Frank McGinley, a duty officer with the British consulate general in Jerusalem, said his country was investigating the report but had no further comment.
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