7 soldiers hurt in North Cotabato bombing

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines – Seven soldiers were hurt yesterday in a roadside blast in Magpet, North Cotabato, reportedly a handiwork of the New People’s Army (NPA).

The soldiers belong to Bravo Company of the 57th Infantry Battalion, which has jurisdiction over Magpet and surrounding towns in the second district of North Cotabato, where the NPA have lately been operating with impunity, planting roadside bombs and attacking military detachments in one offensive after another that started early this year.

Major Leo Diaz, commander of the 57th Infrantry’s Bravo Company, said his injured subordinates, along with some 30 other companions, were on their way to their command post in Barangay Binay in Magpet from a security mission in a hinterland nearby when their truck ran over an improvised landmine, triggering a powerful explosion.

“The driver still managed to drive the truck away from the spot where the landmine went off and pulled over in a safe area to check on his wounded passengers,” Diaz said.

More than 20 combatants of the 57th Infantry Battalion’s Bravo Company have been injured in separate roadside bombings by NPA rebels in the past six weeks.

The injured soldiers were brought to the nearest hospital, he added.

Yesterday’s bombing in Magpet was the third NPA attack in North Cotabato since Easter Sunday and the 11th bombing incident in the past two months.