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Sunday, October 26, 2008
6 soldiers, 2 wounded in rebel ambush
DAVAO CITY -- Six Army soldiers, including an officer and two more, were wounded when a landmine triggered by communist rebels hit their vehicle in New Bataan, Compostela Valley Friday afternoon.
Major Randolph Cabangbang of the Eastern Mindanao Command (EMC) said at least 30 New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas attacked the soldiers from the Army's 66th Infantry Battalion as they were on their way to Barangay Manurigao, New Bataan, a rebel-influenced village in Compostela Valley province.
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The rebels manually triggered the US-made claymore mine as the soldiers hiked past on a narrow mountain trail and then opened fire, he said.
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. Two other soldiers were wounded.
It was one of the highest military casualties in a single encounter with communist rebels in recent months.
The fatalities were 2nd Lieutenant Jeffrey Domingo, Corporal Anthony Maglantay and Privates First Class Jose Membrillos, Hasjil Mohamadnor, Jessie Sino and Philip Narval.
Privates First Class Bernie Espaniola and Jorolie Fabay were wounded during the ambush.
"They (the soldiers) were able to fire back, but unfortunately six were killed," he said. Two other soldiers were wounded.
Cabangbang said an entire brigade, about 1,000 men, was pursuing the guerrillas.
The ambushed soldiers were not familiar with the terrain because they were deployed to the province only two months earlier, he said.
The bodies of those killed have not yet been brought down from the mountain because bad weather has prevented military helicopters from flying in, 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 rebels issued no immediate statement on the encounter.
The military estimates the NPA's Army has 5,000 fighters nationwide, waging a communist insurgency that has gone on for almost 40 years.
The military is in the middle of an offensive against the communist rebels based on the instruction of President Arroyo to finish them off on or before her term ends in 2010.
Peace talks stalled in 2004 after the rebels accused the government of instigating their inclusion in US and European terrorist lists. (BOT of Sun.Star Davao/VR/Sunnex)
(October 26, 2008 issue)
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