9 gov’t forces killed in Cotabato NPA attacks
NORTH COTABATO , Philippines – Eight members of the government security force were killed while two others, including an Army captain, were wounded in an ambush staged by suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in Tulunan town yesterday morning.
In the nearby village of Luna in Makilala town, another group of rebels bombed a convoy of soldiers from the 57th Infantry Battalion (IB) who were responding to the ambush in Tulunan. The incident left an enlisted serviceman dead and an officer, 1Lt. Bruno Hugo, wounded.
Local officials identified the officer injured in the Tulunan ambush as Capt. Ernesto Aguilar of the 38th IB.
Aguilar and his men were on their way to Barangay Bituan to deliver the salaries of the members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit when the rebels attacked.
Sources said the rebels who perpetrated the ambush belong to the NPA’s Fronts 72 and 74.
Police said the gunmen set off a powerful roadside bomb before they emerged from one side of the road connecting the town proper to Barangay Bituan.
Five soldiers and three militiamen were killed on the spot, according to the Tulunan police.
A militiaman was reported missing.
Aguilar’s bag containing the payroll money for the militiamen was reportedly lost in the firefight.
Lt. Col. Roy Galido, commanding officer of the 38th IB, confirmed the ambush, but declined to identify the fatalities pending notification of their families.
Galido said the ambush was apparently the NPA’s retaliation for the losses it incurred in the recent encounters with Army soldiers in Makilala town. – With Alexis Romero, Edith Regalado
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