(UPDATE) Leftist rebels kidnap soldier, bomb gov't convoy in ComVal

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Leftist rebels today snatched a government soldier and bombed a convoy of government troops, relief workers and media in the latest flare-up of violence in Mindanao, local police said.

The latest kidnapping happened at a far-flung village in Laak, a town of Southern Philippine province of Compostela Valley, where about a dozen armed New People's Army (NPA) rebels put up a roadblock around 9:40 a.m., according to Senior Superintendent Camilo Cascolan, Compostela Valley police chief.

Sergeant Jeric Curay was apprehended as he, riding a motorcycle, passed by the checkpoint on his way to work, and then taken by insurgents fleeing to unknown direction, Cascolan told Xinhua in a text message.

"There were reports that a policeman was also seized but we're still verifying these," said Cascolan, adding pursuit operations were now launched against the rebels.

In Talaingod town, in nearby Davao del Norte Province, NPA members set off a roadside bomb, barely missing a convoy of army trucks, police jeep, a truck from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and a vehicle for local ABS-CBN television past 2 p.m., said Samuel Gadingan, Davao del Norte police chief.

"Fortunately no one was hurt," he said, adding the convoy was returning from distribution of relief goods to over 1,000 families displaced by the military operation that has been going on for a week now.