DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 29, 2011) – Three Filipino soldiers were killed on Tuesday in a landmine explosion blamed by the military to the communist New People’s Army rebels in Davao City in Mindanao.
Major Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel, of the 10th Infantry Division, said the soldiers were instantly killed by the powerful blast just 400 meters away from their patrol base in Paquibato district, a known rebel stronghold.
The explosion occurred at around 8.30 a.m. while the soldiers, who belonged to the 69th Infantry Battalion, were on their way to a humanitarian mission. “The soldiers were on a community outreach mission at the time of the attack. They were instantly killed by the powerful blast,” Manuel told the Mindanao Examiner.
She said the rebels violated an international law that banned the use of landmines. She said the NPA has been using landmines in their violent campaign that also endangers the lives of innocent civilians.
Colonel Lyndon Paniza, an army spokesman, condemned the attack and said it would not affect the military’s humanitarian efforts to bring peace and development in the troubled South.
“We condemn this brutal attack. We will continue with our humanitarian works. This treacherous act shall not in any way affect of efforts to bring peace and development to all,” he said.
The NPA is fighting for decades now to overthrow the democratic government and install a Maoist state in the largely Catholic country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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