South African law enforcement officials have rescued an American missionary who was abducted by armed and masked men as he was preaching in the Eastern Cape province last week.

Three unidentified suspects were killed during Tuesday's operation, which was led by the South African Police Service's elite Hawks unit, police said.

An American preacher who was taken hostage by armed men while preaching a sermon in a South African township last week has been rescued in a fierce gun battle with his kidnappers, police said Wednesday.