3 wounded as NPAs attack Agusan Sur police station

BUTUAN CITY — A police official and two civilians were wounded when some 60 fully armed New People’s Army (NPA) rebels on board a 10-wheeler truck attacked and ransacked a police station in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, 105 kilometers southwest of this city.

Belated police and military reports said the guerrillas carted away three M-16 Armalite rifles and one VHF radio.

However, the authorities and the NPA gave conflicting reports about the attack, with the police saying that the firefight lasted for 10 minutes, and the rebels, 50 minutes.

The wounded police officer was identified as SPO2 Anaclito Guerrero. The two civilians, who were hit by stray bullets, remained unidentified.

The attack also destroyed a private communications tower and the perimeter fence of the municipal police headquarters located inside the compound of the town hall.

Talacogon and the adjoining towns are under the jurisdiction of the NPA’s Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee Front 22 under a certain Kumander Parago.

The NPA unit reportedly has some 150 fully armed fighters operating in the mountain ranges of Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte.

The attack was the 15th to hit the Caraga region since last month when the NPA warned civilians to stay away from military and police establishments.