DAVAO CITY –Security forces have seized a cache of rebel weapons and explosives and arrested a suspected communist insurgent in a raid on his hideout in Compostela Valley province in southern Philippines, officials said Monday.
Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said soldiers swooped down on the hideout in Casoon village in Monkayo town and arrested Eugenio Piamonte.
He said a search in Piamonte’s hideout yielded five automatic rifles, 11 improvised explosives, 10 pairs of police uniforms, 10 pairs of army uniforms, 10 pairs of combat boots, eight 40mm grenades, one tripod for M79 grenade launcher, a flare and a link for machine gun.
Caber said the weekend raid was part of a long surveillance operation and information provided by civilians to the military. “It was a good operation and we’ve recovered weapons and explosives in the area,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said the NPA has used landmines in separate attacks since early this month in Surigao del Sur and North Cotabato that had injured and killed at least 9 people. He said troops also recovered a total of 18 landmines planted by separatist rebels in those areas.
Lt. Gen. Aurelio Baladad, chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command, praised the soldiers for the capture of Piamonte, who is currently being interrogated by the army.
There was no immediate statement from the NPA – which is fighting for a separate Maoist state – about Piamonte’s arrest. (Mindanao Examiner)
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