AT LEAST seven army personnel were wounded when suspected rebels detonated anti-personnel mines in Barangay Magsaysay in Mapanas, Northern Samar Tuesday, July 5, 2022.
The Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, Samar said the personnel from the community support program team were patrolling the area at around 6:15 a.m. Tuesday when the landmine attack happened.
As of press time, the Army has yet to name the injured personnel in the incident.
In the initial information, the seven army personnel sustained multiple shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies and were brought to a hospital.
The Army also reiterated its call to end the local communist armed conflict in Eastern Visayas and the entire Philippines while condemning the communist rebels for using anti-personnel mines.
Eastern Visayas, particularly Samar Island, remained a hotbed of insurgency with the continued presence of the New People’s Army, which has been waging a Maoist-inspired guerrilla war since the late 1960s. (SunStar Philippines)