Rebels torch cell site in Cagayan

TUGUEGARAO CITY — Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels torched a cell site of Globe Telecom in Piat, Cagayan last Friday, the military said.

Maj. Victor Tanggawohn Jr., spokesman of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division, said nine fully armed men entered the cell site compound, disarmed its security guard and then torched the telecommunications facility.

Meanwhile, the NPA threatened to double its attacks on military targets in Mindanao, claiming that its offensives have claimed the lives of at least 13 soldiers since Sept. 30.

"These attacks are mostly harassment operations on Army outposts and detachments," Jorge Madlos, NPA spokesman for Northwestern Mindanao, said in a statement.

Madlos claimed that four militiamen, four policemen, four security guards and a government informer were also killed in the rebel attacks, besides one guerrilla and three civilians. — Charlie Lagasca, Lino de la Cruz, Artemio Dumlao