[Rappler] New People's Army militants abducted two Philippine soldiers in Sultan Kudarat province on Thursday morning.Military spokesperson Rhyan Batchar said that the two soldiers were abducted "by armed men suspected to be members of the New People's Army" in Barangay Dela Paz in Columbio town. He confirmed the suspects to be communist insurgents in a later statement.
Batchar said were riding a motorbike and were unarmed when a group of armed men threw stones at them prompting them to stop. He said, "The 10th Infantry Division condemns the NPA for kidnapping two enlisted men of 39th Infantry Battalion . . . The NPA is showing complete disregard of its own earlier pronouncement that its unilateral ceasefire is in effect until February 10, by continuously committing atrocities against soldiers and civilians."
The incident happened a day after the NPA announced that it would terminate its ceasefire with the government on February 10. On January 29 or days before the NPA's announcement, communist rebels abducted a soldier, Private First Class Erwin Salan, as he led a forest clean-up drive in Alegria, Surigao del Norte.