DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 9, 2008) - Communist insurgents raided a mining firm in Compostela Valley province and warned of more attacks in the southern Philippines, officials said Wednesday.
About 20 insurgents, who were members of the New People’s Army, attacked a field office of the Philco Mining Corporation in the village of Camanlangan in New Bataan town on Tuesday.
The gunmen torched a generator and then escaped. No one was killed or hurt in the raid, said Lt. Col. Kurt Decapia, a spokesman of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.
Decapia said soldiers were pursuing the insurgents. “There is an operation going on. Troops from the 28th Infantry Battalion are tracking down the raiders,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
The raid came barely a day after suspected insurgents gunned down a policeman at a crowded market in the town of Cateel in Davao Oriental province, also in the southern Philippines.
Police blamed the NPA in the killing of Ireneo Poblete, who was shot at close range while buying food late Monday afternoon. The insurgents warned it would target abusive policemen and soldiers and government officials who violate human rights and oppress the poor.
Last week, insurgents also raided a police base in the town of Banaybanay also in Davao Oriental and seized 18 mostly automatic weapons.
The NPA’s Merardo Arce Command said it seized so many weapons from soldiers and policemen the past three months that it was able to armed two new rebel platoons, Rigoberto Sanchez, the group’s spokesman, said.
“The NPA will inflict mounting casualties, seize more arms and accelerate the building of more NPA platoons,” he said.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, which is fighting for a separate Maoist state in the country. (With reports from Romy Bwaga)
No comments:
Post a Comment