DAVAO CITY – Two infantrymen were wounded in a bomb attack Tuesday in the town of Talaingod in the southern Filipino province of Davao del Norte, an army spokesman said.
Capt. Alberto Caber, of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the soldiers were patrolling the village of Palma Gil when the explosion occurred. He blamed the New People’s Army for the latest attack.
The ambush also sparked a 20-minute gun battle. There was no report of enemy casualties.
“The soldiers suffered minor shrapnel wounds and burns due to the explosion in the area. First aid care was immediately applied by the troops to the wounded personnel and they are now in stable condition,” Caber said, adding, the soldiers were members of the 68th Infantry Battalion.
It was the second attack in recent days, communist insurgents also detonated an improvised explosive planted on a road in the village of Binucayan in Agusan del Sur’s Loreto town and wounded four patrolling soldiers from the 26th Infantry Battalion.
NPA rebels also killed a pro-government militia and an army soldier in an attack in Aguinaldo village in Laak town in Compostela Valley province.
Rebel forces have intensified its attacks on military and other targets in the troubled region following the killing of one of their leaders, Leoncio Pitao, last last month in Davao City.
Pitao, alias Ka Parago, and his medical aide were fatally shot by troops in Paquibato District, a known NPA stronghold.
The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a separate state in the country.
Government peace talks with the rebels have been on and off with both accusing each other reneging on many agreements, including demands by the communist group for Manila to release all political prisoners languishing in jails across the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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