Monday, April 02, 2007 Armed Forces confirms Reds' hiring of minors
THE military got another proof that the communist New People's Army (NPA) is enlisting "child warriors" in its armed struggle when they killed a 12-year-old rebel in a firefight in Compostela Valley on Saturday.
"The death of the child-warrior clearly indicates the NPA's continuing program to recruit minors as their combatants," said Captain Jose Francis dela Fuente, a spokesman of the Army's 8th Infantry Division (ID) based in Western Samar.
Dela Fuente said the girl is a grade 2 pupil of the Simsimin Elementary School in New Bataan, Compostela Valley.
He said the girl was among the three NPA rebels who died in the clash but the bodies of her two other slain companions were carted away by the rebels. The firefight also led to the death of an Army soldier -- Private First Class Bracera
Dela Fuente said 67th Infantry Battalion (IB) operatives were on combat operations in Barangay Kahayag in the town at 8:24 a.m. Saturday when they caught up with about 30 rebels from the NPA Front Committee 20 of the Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee.
Dela Fuente said the soldiers had to fire at the position of the rebels near a creek from where a volume of rebel fire killed the Army soldier and from where the child was earlier spotted by the troops.
"During the course of the firefight, the soldiers had to fire back at the creek area from where heavy fire that had hit Bracera fatally was coming from. The child was spotted earlier in the area with her M16 armalite rifle," he said.
He said after the 30-minute firefight, the troops recovered from the scene the girl's body.
Also during clearing operations, the soldiers recovered at the site four M16 and two M14 rifles.
The girl's remains were taken to the New Bataan Police Station where her father, Gregorio, claimed the body. (VR/Sunnex)
