Isabela, Philippines ? Police arrested eight alleged supporters of Muslim extremists holding an American couple hostage in the southern Philippines, officials said Thursday.

The four men and four women were accused of giving food and aid to Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who hold missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap, said senior Supt. Bensali Jabarani, police chief of the southern island province of Basilan.

The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have been holding their three hostages in the jungles of Basilan for more than nine months.

The Philippine army, with the help of U.S. advisers, has launched a joint counter-terrorism military exercise aimed out wiping out the Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to the al-Qaida terror network believed responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

The 660-strong U.S. contingent includes 160 special forces soldiers deployed to Basilan to observe Filipino soldiers on the front-lines. They are armed for self-defense only.

Some special forces soldiers have been deployed to Philippine military units operating in Maluso, where Salajin said the hostages and their captors have recently been sighted.