NPA landmine kills 2 soldiers

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Two soldiers were killed and four others were wounded when a landmine planted by the New People’s Army exploded in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur yesterday.  

Col. Oliver Artuz, commander of the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion, said the victims were with a team of soldiers who conducted a community outreach program in Barangay Sibulan when they chanced upon a landmine planted by the NPA rebels.

“These criminal acts of the NPAs are desperate moves in preventing the delivery of developmental programs of the government and its partners to alleviate the plight of our constituents in remote areas,” said Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza, spokesman of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.