CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 18 Feb) – The communist rebel New People's Army on Sunday denied military reports it killed a "non-combatant" soldier involved in humanitarian projects in the southern Philippines.
Four other soldiers were wounded in the rebel attack in the village of Cabuyao in Compostela Valley’s Mabini town last week. The military said the soldiers were non-combatant and members of the army’s engineering brigade working on humanitarian projects.
Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesman for the New People’s Army Merardo Arce Command, said the attack was legitimate and the soldiers were part of a military propaganda unit.
“The ambush staged by Red fighters of the 3rd Pulang Bagani Company of the Merardo Arce Command against armed combatants of the AFP’s 534th Engineering Brigade was a legitimate tactical offensive.”
“Only medical personnel and chaplains are considered as non-combatants, including those deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict such as those wounded in action and those captured, and should not be targeted for any military action,” Sanchez said Sunday in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, which is fighting the past three decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.
The United States listed the CPP and NPA, including its political wing, the National Democratic Front as foreign terrorist organizations, on Manila’s prodding. President Gloria Arroyo has vowed to destroy the NPA before her term ends in 2010. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment