DAVAO CITY – A government soldier was wounded after communist rebels ambushed an army patrol in the southern Philippine province of Davao del Sur, officials said on Monday.
Army Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the soldiers were in the village of Little Baguio in Malita town when New People’s Army fighters attacked them.
The weekend ambush triggered a 45-minute gunbattle that injured the soldier, he said.
Caber did not identify the soldier, but said he is a member of the 73rd Infantry Battalion whose unit was deployed in the town, a known lair of the communist rebel group which has been waging a separatist war for many decades now.
“The wounded soldier was immediately brought to a medical facility for treatment. The bandits withdrew and escaped from the scene after a 45-minute firefight. The troops are still conducting their pursuit operations,” he said.
Caber said troops were sent to the village after receiving intelligence reports that the NPA band was in the area.
There was no official report of enemy casualties.
The fighting came just a day after security forces captured John Omega Nebris, a liaison officer of the NPA at a checkpoint in Davao City.
Nebris, of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, was intercepted by policemen and soldiers in Sirawan village. A .45-caliber pistol, a fragmentation grenade and three cell phones, including 13 SIM cards and P5,000 cash, were recovered from the rebel. (Mindanao Examiner)
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