Soldier wounded as rebels strike army convoy in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - A Philippine Army soldier was wounded when leftist rebels detonated an improvised bomb and fired at an army truck on the way to help rebuild typhoon-hit areas in Mindanao today, the military said.

The incident happened along the Pan-Philippine Highway in Tagum in southeastern Mindanao at around 10 a.m., said Lieutenant Colonel Lyndon Paniza, spokesperson for the army's 10th Infantry Division.

Paniza said soldiers from the army's 66th Infantry Battalion assigned to a humanitarian task force were aboard an army truck when they were ambushed by an improvised landmine believed planted by the New People's Army (NPA).

"The soldiers were transporting construction material to (typhoon-struck) Compostela Valley province when attacked," Paniza told Xinhua by text message, adding that a soldier suffered shrapnel wounds and had to be transported back to an army hospital in Davao some 55 kilometers away. He said the army vehicle also sustained damage as a result of the blast.

The rebels also fired at the soldiers, sparking a brief firefight, before withdrawing to a forested area, said Paniza.

"Despite the incident, the military would still continue helping rehabilitate typhoon-affected communities in the region," the military official said, condemning the NPA attack as "anti- people and anti-development."