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Saturday, October 29, 2005
Rebels attack Army post in southern RP
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Communist insurgents attacked Friday an Army post in Hinatuan town, Surigao del Sur, triggering a fierce fight, officials said.
Officials said the raiders opened fire on a patrol base used by militias near the village of Loyola.
There were no immediate reports casualties on both sides, but troops have been sent to the area to pursue the New People's Army (NPA) which is responsible for the attack, said Army spokesman Major Bartolome Bacarro.
"We are still awaiting reports from the grounds. We have sent more soldiers in the area to reinforce the local forces fighting the NPA," he said.
Two weeks ago, insurgents and soldiers also clashed in Singalat village in the town of Calamba in Misamis Occidental, leaving a still undetermined number of gunmen dead and wounded.
Insurgents have vowed to intensify attacks on military and police targets after the government suspended safety and immunity guarantee for their negotiators following the collapse of the peace talks.
Philippine Army Chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said they have intensified the operation against the NPA across the country.
"There is no stopping here. We have intensified our anti-insurgency campaign in the country and the NPA should lay down their arms and surrender peacefully," he said.
NPA gunmen also attacked a police station in the southern town of Talacogon in Agusan del Sur and carted away automatic rifles after a firefight that left a policeman wounded.
They also killed five soldiers and three civilians in an ambush earlier this month in Sapang Dalaga town in Misamis Occidental Province.
The spate of attacks coincided with the government suspension of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee (JASIG) after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its political arm the National Democratic Front (NDF) refused to return to the peace negotiations.
With the suspension of immunity guarantee, rebel negotiators now are at risk of being arrested on charges ranging from rebellion to murder.
The CPP and the NDF are demanding that Manila ask the United States and the European Union to strike them off their lists of foreign terror organizations. The US and the EU blacklisted the CPP, NDF and the NPA on Manila's prodding, and froze their assets abroad.
Peace negotiations between the government and the rebel group have been suspended since August last year, following the NDF pullout. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(October 29, 2005 issue)
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