Davao City, Philippines  - Communist rebels on Tuesday freed two soldiers held captive for almost two weeks in the southern Philippines, a guerrilla spokesman said.

The captive troops were released on "humanitarian grounds," said Rigoberto Sanchez, a spokesman for the guerrilla unit that held the soldiers hostage.

Army Sergeants Napoleon Jerasmeo and Huberto Corbita were seized April 25 during a rebel blockade in a remote village in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Sanchez did not give details on the release of the soldiers.

Regional Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rolando Jose Bautista confirmed the release of the soldiers but made no details available.

Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia. (dpa)