7 soldiers wounded in leftist rebel attacks in ComVal

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Seven government soldiers were wounded in a series of attacks by leftist rebels in two areas in the southern Philippines yesterday, the military said today.

New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas detonated a landmine and ambushed soldiers in the villages of Mabuhay and Ampawid, Laak town, in Mindanao's Compostela Valley province almost simultaneously shortly after 7 p.m., according to Captain Ernest Carolina, public information officer of the 10th Infantry Division.

"Two soldiers from the 46th Infantry Battalion (IB) were wounded in the ambush while five others from the 25th IB suffered shrapnel wounds due to the landmine explosion. All were now undergoing treatment at local hospitals while pursuit operations are going on against the (NPA) perpetrators," Carolina told Xinhua by mobile phone.

Also on Monday morning, a roadside bomb exploded along a village road in Tagum City, some 50 kilometers to the west, damaging a passing army truck on its way to deliver troops and construction materials for a newly set up army detachment in a nearby village. No one was hurt in that incident.