Reds attack Abra Army camp

At least 50 communist guerrillas overran a military detachment in a hinterland barangay in Abra province Friday, carting away at least 29 government rifles.

The military’s Northern Luzon Command based in Tarlac City is yet to release the name of the soldier killed during the firefight in Barangay Tiempo, Tubo town, Abra.

Police sources claimed that at least eight government troopers belonging to the Abra-based 41st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army were wounded.

Eight M14 rifles, 20 US Garand rifles and one US carbine were looted by the rebels. Government sources said that a barangay councilwoman, identified as Linda Camiling, was also killed in the crossfire.

New People’s Army (NPA) spokesman Gregorio Rosal warned on Saturday that communists would launch more assaults "that would match and even surpass" the Tubo raid in the second half of the year.

The rebel spokesman called on all NPA units to launch bigger and more frequent raids and ambushes against military and police targets in order to take advantage of the "low morale, confusion and disorder" resulting from the jueteng controversy and in-fighting among officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The Tubo raid came in the wake of pronouncements by the government that the military would be able to defeat the insurgents in six to ten years. — With AFP