CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Communist insurgents opened fire on a civilian vehicle and killing four people in the southern Philippines, reports said Monday.
It said four civilians were also wounded in the weekend attack that occurred in the town of Rosario in Agusan del Sur province. The victims were returning home from a nearby church when about two dozen gunmen, believed to be members of the New People’s Army, ambushed the vehicle.
It was unclear what triggered the rebels to attack civilians, but reports said some of the passengers were village leaders and pro-government militias. More than a dozen people were in the vehicle.
There was no immediate statement from the rebel group or any of its leaders, but the province is a known stronghold of the NPA, which has been fighting for decades now for the establishment of their own communist state in the country.
The military’s Eastern Mindanao Command and the 4th Infantry Division also did not issue any statement about the latest attack by the NPA which previously boasted of mass support from villagers in the region.
Rebel forces are still holding two policemen they captured in nearby province of Surigao del Norte. The rebels seized PO3 Democrito Polvorosa and PO1 Marichel Contemplo on November 16 near the village of Pongtud where the NPA had set up a road block.
The two policemen were on a prowl car when about two dozen rebels intercepted them. The fate of the prisoners was unknown, but their capture came barely four days after rebels snatched PO1 Junrie Amper in Malimono town in the neighboring Surigao del Sur province. (Mindanao Examiner)
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