7 RPA rebels hurt in grenade blast

BACOLOD CITY — Seven fighters of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army (RPA), a breakaway rebel group which signed a peace pact with the government in 2000, were injured when a rifle grenade accidentally went off during their training in northern Negros.

RPA chief Carapali Laulhati said the incident happened while the RPA members were undergoing a three-week refresher course on basic military tactics in Barangay Celestino Villacin in Cadiz City, about 65.2 kilometers north of this city.

Four of those injured are confined at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Hospital here, and the rest at the Jose Locsin Memorial Hospital in Silay City.

Barangay Celestino Villacin was the site of previous skirmishes between the RPA and the mainstream New People’s Army (NPA). — Antonieta Lopez