6 soldiers killed in rebel ambush (1 p.m.)
MANILA — Communist rebels ambushed an army unit and triggered a land mine blast that killed six soldiers and wounded two others in Mindanao, a military spokesman said Saturday.
Major Randolph Cabangbang said at least 30 New People’s Army guerrillas fired on the soldiers who were on their way to a remote, rebel-influenced village in Compostela Valley province.
The rebels’ gunfire triggered ignition of the anti-personnel mine, he said.
It was one of the highest military casualties in a single encounter with communist rebels in recent months.
Cabangbang said those who died, including a lieutenant, were part of a 14-man team sent to talk to villagers about a planned military medical mission next month.
“They (the soldiers) were able to fire back, but unfortunately six were killed,” he said.
The medical mission has not been canceled because the military is determined to reduce rebel influence in the area, Cabangbang said.
The mission is part of a bid by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to reduce the rebels to an “inconsequential level” by 2010, when her term of office ends.
The military estimates the New People’s Army has 5,000 fighters nationwide waging a communist insurgency that has gone on for almost 40 years.
Peace talks stalled in 2004 after the rebels accused the government of instigating their inclusion in U.S. and European terrorist lists. (AP)
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