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Sunday, January 05, 2003
Colonel, 3 others wounded in ambush
By Edwin G. Espejo
TUPI, South Cotabato -- The commanding officer of the 27th Infantry Battalion and three of his men were wounded when a band of heavily armed men believed to be members of the New People's Army (NPA) ambushed them in Barangay Tubing, Tupi Saturday afternoon.
Reports said Lt. Col. Edwardo Andes and two teams of Army soldiers were on their way to respond to a report that a group of armed men had ransacked the house of an unnamed policeman when they were waylaid near a bridge approaching the said barangay.
Andes was immediately wounded during the initial bursts of gunfire.
Also wounded were S/Sgt. Pablito Canja, Sgt. Petriach Detalla and Pfc. Johnny Sinaon.
The battalion commander and his wounded men were brought to the provincial hospital in Koronadal where they were treated with their wounds.
Reports said Andes is now out of danger after several hours of operation to remove the bullets that hit his back.
The military here could not immediately established which group the heavily armed men belonged but sources said the area is a known stronghold of both the NPA and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
A military spot report however merely described the perpetrators as "armed lawless elements".
The report further added that at least 50 heavily armed men participated in the ambush.
Two MG-250 attack helicopters were immediately dispatched to pursue the armed men whom the military said brought along with them their wounded companions on their way to the forested area of Roxas range.
The ambush site is only seven kilometers away from the headquarters of the 27th IB in Kablon, Tupi and just several kilometers away from the national highway.
It was the first attack recorded in South Cotabato this year and came just days after the National Democratic Front (NDF) in Mindanao warned that its armed wing, the NPA, would launch tactical offensives against the government.
The attack also came a day after Jose Maria Sison, founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines rejected overtures for the Maoist-inspired rebel forces to join the unity government called by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.(Sun.Star Gensan) |
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