By Ronron
January 30, 2008
Five soldiers died while six others were wounded after they clashed Wednesday morning against suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Davao Oriental province, a military spokesman said.
Col. Benito de Leon, spokesman and chief of staff of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said in a phone interview that the incident happened at around 10 am at Sitio San Francisco, Barangay Campawan in Baganga town.
He said the elements from the Bravo Company of the Philippine Army’s 67th Infantry Battalion were on combat operation when they encountered more or less 70 armed rebels.
The firefight, he said, left five soldiers killed and six others injured, and undetermined number of casualty on the side of the NPA.
“Pursuit operations are still ongoing,” said de Leon at around 2pm.
On Tuesday, the NPA also struck in the neighboring province of Compostela Valley, killing two policemen and hurting some civilians.
The attacks happened even as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) vowed to sustain the momentum in its fight against the NPA, particularly to dismantle 17 guerilla fronts by March of this year.
The AFP has claimed to have reduced the NPA strength by the end of December 2007 to 5,760, the lowest in two decades.
By 2010, the government hopes to render the almost four-decade-old movement “inconsequential” as ordered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo./DMS
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