DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 3, 2008) – Three people were killed and over a dozen others injured in separate attacks on Thursday by communist insurgents in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said three people died and 13 more injured in a grenade attack in front of a bakery in the town of Nabunturan in Compostela Valley. “It was the handiwork of the New People’s Army rebels,” said Captain Michael Aquino, of the 10th Infantry Division.
The attack, he said, apparently targeted a group of motorcycle taxi drivers suspected as military spy. “We have reports saying that the attack targeted the ‘habal-habal’ drivers in the area because the NPA suspected them as government spies,” Aquino said.
Policemen briefly clashed with two of the attackers who escaped on a motorcycle.
Dozens of insurgents on board two trucks and a van also raided a police base in Banaybanay town in Davao Oriental province, Aquino said. “One policeman was injured in the raid,” he said.
Aquino said about 70 NPA gunmen strafed the base and engaged policemen in a firefight. “There are operations in the two provinces to neutralize the NPA responsible for the attacks. Military and police forces are pursuing the attackers,” he said.
Last week, insurgents also raided a police station in Surigao del Norte’s Dapa town.
The NPA is fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Rebel leaders broke off peace talk with the Arroyo government in 2004 after accusing Manila of reneging on its commitment to free all political prisoners and to put a stop to political killings, among others. (Romy Bwaga)
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