Leftist rebels kidnap policeman in Compostela

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Leftist rebels have struck anew in Mindanao, abducting a cop and setting off an improvised bomb that wounded several people today, police said.

The latest atrocity by the New People's Army (NPA) occurred around 6 a.m. local time when the insurgents seized a policeman at a roadblock in Mainit village, Nabunturan town, in Compostela Valley, according to Camilo Cascolan, provincial police chief.

Cascolan said Police Officer Ruben Nojapa, a member of Nabunturan police, was stopped by NPA rebels at a checkpoint in a village road and taken to an unknown location.

The leftist guerrillas who fled on trucks towards nearby Mawab township, were believed to have also detonated a landmine in Cabidianan village, 3 km from the provincial capital, in an apparent diversionary tactic against pursuing government forces.

Cascolan said several people have been reportedly wounded in the blast.

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.