NPA goes on bombing rampage; AFP in pursuit

CAMP BANCASI, Butuan City – After the New People’s Army (NPA) stepped up its bombing attacks, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) responded by deploying yesterday more troops in Loreto, Agusan del Sur and Maragusan, Compostela Valley.

The tactical response came after a land mine the rebels planted exploded in Loreto Thursday and an assault on a banana plantation in Maragusan last Saturday.

In the Loreta blast, four soldiers from the 26th Infantry Battalion were wounded when a landmine was detonated as the military engaged communist rebels in an encounter.

The soldiers, who remained unidentified as of press time, were taken to the Patin-Ay Hospital in Prosperidad town for treatment and were declared out-of-danger.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division reported that an undetermined number of NPA insurgents attacked and bombed a bridge at the Dole-Stanfilco compound at around 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Bomb shrapnel also hit a nearby aviation hangar, damaging a DoleStanfilco aircraft.

Elements of the 25th Infantry Battalion were immediately dispatched to the blast site and reported back to say that those responsible were from the NPA’s Front 72 operating in the area.

Extortion was seen as the motive for the attack.

Given the bombing rampage by the NPA, military troops have been dispatched to the blast sites to conduct pursuit operations.

“More government forces were mobilized to augment soldiers hunting down the rebels,” said Capt. Joe Patrick A. Martinez, spokesperson of the Northeastern and Northern Mindanao Army’s 4th Infantry (Diamond) Division told the Manila Bulletin by phone.

Government forces in the entire Caraga region have been placed under alert status in anticipation of more attacks by the rebels.

Combat pilots from the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) Tactical Operations group (TOG) in the two regions have also been placed on standby for possible air cover for the pursuing ground troops in Loreto and Maragusan areas.

Pursuing combat maneuvering troops of the 26th Infantry Battalion are already heading towards the border of Agusan del Sur and ComVal, following the escape route of the fleeing NPA’s, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.