CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Five army soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded after their group tripped on a landmine reportedly set up by rebels from the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay Kili in Tubo, Abra at about 10 p.m. last Feb. 1.
Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) spokesperson Maj. Rosendo Armas confirmed this in a text message, although 1st Lt. Eduard Sia-ed, information officer of the Army’s 503rd Infantry Brigade, confirmed only six injuries.
An official press release sent earlier by Nolcom, however, merely referred to “several casualties” during the incident.
Pressed for more details, Armas later sent Punto a text message confirming that five army soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded during the land mine incident.
The Nolcom statement said the victims were all from the army’s 501st IB. It did not name those killed but identified the wounded as Sgt. Rodolfo Dombrique Jr., PFC Frank Nawi, PFC Felix Gac-oy, PFC Antonio Allawi, PFC Jaylord Robredo,, PFC.Glendon Guillermo, and Pvt. Jay-ar Laman.
The wounded were flown to the Abra Provincial Hospital in Bangued for treatment and eventually to the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City the following day, with the help of the Abra provincial government and Abra Rep. Cecilia Seares Luzon, Nolcom said
The soldiers from the 501 IB were conducting pursuit operations when one of them tripped on an improvised explosive device (IED) which Nolcom identified as a landmine allegedly laid by the fleeing NPA guerillas along a footpath in a mountainous area in Barangay Kili, a report from Sia-ed said.
“The use of landmines is clearly prohibited under International Humanitarian Law. The incident only confirms the terrorist character of the NPA. Historically, the use of landmines has also been a practice of local terrorist groups to inflict heavy casualties against government troops, and sometimes (even against) armed forces supporters or politicians,” Nolcom said
Pursuit operations were led by the 503 IB headed by Col. Essel Soriano but the NPA rebels were believed to have mixed with folk in local barangays.
An attempt of the NPAs to ambush soldiers from the 41 IB led to a firefight in Barangay Lat-ey in Malibcong in Abra at about 1 p.m. last Tuesday, but no casualty was reported on either side, Nolcom said.
Nolcom quoted Soriano as saying that military troops “will press on the campaign (against communist rebels) in pursuit of the AFP’s objective to reduce the NPA’s to insignificant levels (and thus) secure the environment for the effective governance by local chief executives.”
Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) spokesperson Maj. Rosendo Armas confirmed this in a text message, although 1st Lt. Eduard Sia-ed, information officer of the Army’s 503rd Infantry Brigade, confirmed only six injuries.
An official press release sent earlier by Nolcom, however, merely referred to “several casualties” during the incident.
Pressed for more details, Armas later sent Punto a text message confirming that five army soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded during the land mine incident.
The Nolcom statement said the victims were all from the army’s 501st IB. It did not name those killed but identified the wounded as Sgt. Rodolfo Dombrique Jr., PFC Frank Nawi, PFC Felix Gac-oy, PFC Antonio Allawi, PFC Jaylord Robredo,, PFC.Glendon Guillermo, and Pvt. Jay-ar Laman.
The wounded were flown to the Abra Provincial Hospital in Bangued for treatment and eventually to the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City the following day, with the help of the Abra provincial government and Abra Rep. Cecilia Seares Luzon, Nolcom said
The soldiers from the 501 IB were conducting pursuit operations when one of them tripped on an improvised explosive device (IED) which Nolcom identified as a landmine allegedly laid by the fleeing NPA guerillas along a footpath in a mountainous area in Barangay Kili, a report from Sia-ed said.
“The use of landmines is clearly prohibited under International Humanitarian Law. The incident only confirms the terrorist character of the NPA. Historically, the use of landmines has also been a practice of local terrorist groups to inflict heavy casualties against government troops, and sometimes (even against) armed forces supporters or politicians,” Nolcom said
Pursuit operations were led by the 503 IB headed by Col. Essel Soriano but the NPA rebels were believed to have mixed with folk in local barangays.
An attempt of the NPAs to ambush soldiers from the 41 IB led to a firefight in Barangay Lat-ey in Malibcong in Abra at about 1 p.m. last Tuesday, but no casualty was reported on either side, Nolcom said.
Nolcom quoted Soriano as saying that military troops “will press on the campaign (against communist rebels) in pursuit of the AFP’s objective to reduce the NPA’s to insignificant levels (and thus) secure the environment for the effective governance by local chief executives.”
