DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 14, 2012) – Communist insurgents killed two soldiers in a clash in the southern Filipino province of Davao del Norte, security officials said Friday.
Officials said an army lieutenant was among those killed in the fighting that erupted in the village of Dagohoy in Talaingod town.
“We are saddened by this incident for two of our men laid the ultimate sacrifice only to secure community areas from the presence of armed men. Their heroism is an inspiration to all of us to double our efforts in putting an end to insurgency for that genuine and lasting peace we have envisioned,” Colonel Lysander Suerte, commander of the 1003rd Infantry Brigade, said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Suerte said the soldiers, from the 60th Infantry Battalion, were patrolling the village when they ran into a huge group of New People’s Army rebels and a fire fight ensued.
“The troops were conducting security operations to pre-empt the NPA from conducting atrocities and from attacking CAA patrol base in the hinterlands of Talaingod. Troops under 60th Infantry Battalion were on security patrol and chanced upon more or less 50 NPA rebels,” he said.
Troops were sent to patrol the village following reports that rebels had been spotted in the area.
Officials did not say if there were enemy casualties, but the NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting for decades for the establishment of a separate Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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