Leftist rebels abduct soldier in S. Philippines
Xinhua, September 20, 2015 Adjust font size:
Leftist rebels on Saturday kidnapped a government soldier in southern Philippines, the military on Sunday said.
Corporal Adriano Bingil was riding a motorcycle driven by a civilian when snatched by dozens of New People's Army guerrillas in a hinterland village in San Luis town, in Mindanao's Agusan del Sur province around 9 a.m. local time, according to Albert Caber, spokesperson of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command.
Caber said the victim, a member of the army's 26th Infantry Battalion, was on civilian clothes on his way to the town proper when stopped at a rebel roadblock in Policarpio village.
"According to reports, rebels flagged down the soldier's vehicle and forcibly took him to unknown location," Caber told Xinhua, adding military operations were now conducted to locate and rescue the trooper.
Sunday's kidnapping was the latest of such atrocities allegedly carried out by the NPA in Mindanao.
A day earlier, leftist guerrillas ambushed patrolling policemen in Cortes town, in nearby Surigao del Sur province, killing one lawman and wounding two others.
The 4,000-strong NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting a leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces since 1969. Endi