About 70 guerrillas, backed by mortar fire, attacked the Army patrol base in Barangay Nueva Gracia, Loreto town, said Maj. Alexis Noel Bravo, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division.
Bravo said villagers had tipped off soldiers and militiamen about the attack, and the rebels pulled back about three hours later after kidnapping a villager, a certain Marcial Ayala, as a human shield.
He said there were no government casualties, and troops were in pursuit of the fleeing rebels headed by one Rofel Casal alias Ka Michael.
The soldiers later found four live ammunition for M203 grenade launcher, three mortars, medical supplies, half a gallon of gasoline and lunch boxes left by the guerrillas.
The military believes the NPA wanted to retaliate for the recent takeover of three of its camps in the region and the killing of over 20 of its cadres. — With Jaime Laude, Richel Umel, Roel Pareño, Edith Regalado and AP