NPA attacks Army outpost in Bukidnon

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Two militiamen were killed and two others were wounded after 80 communist guerrillas raided a military detachment in Barangay Kalagangan in San Fernando, Bukidnon last Friday morning.

Lt. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa, chief of the Armed Forces' Southern Command, identified the slain militiamen as Otay Manulugan and Casenio Talabanganan, and the wounded as Elves Talabanganan and Danny Oris.

Espinosa said that at the time of the attack, soldiers manning the detachment were on patrol in a remote part of the town.

The fatigue-clad guerrillas burned the bunkers and carted away nine M-14 rifles, six Garand rifles, one M-60 machinegun and three M-16 rifles with M-203 grenade launchers, he added.

Espinosa said the militiamen were unable to immediately call for reinforcements because the guerrillas had cut off communication lines.

Brig. Gen. Roy Cimatu, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, said the New People's Army guerrillas were on board three vehicles when they attacked the detachment.

Espinosa said one Ka Joemar, who led the attack, was killed during the firefight, and that the rebels took their wounded comrades as they fled to the hinterlands.

He said the detachment was reinforced by troops from the 10th Special Forces Battalion led by one Lt. Macarampat, and that the 5th Special Forces Battalion sent troops to block the attackers' escape route.

Espinosa also deployed soldiers from the 4th Special Forces Battalion and the 8th Infantry Battalion on board mini-tanks and armored personnel carriers to help in pursuing the fleeing guerrillas.

Two helicopter gunships also joined ground troops in the search for the raiders, he added.

The NPA raid was believed to be in retaliation for the military offensive that Espinosa had ordered following intelligence reports that guerrillas had been harassing civilians, particularly farmers in Northern Mindanao.