A suspected supporter of the New People’s Army is shown with the six anti-tank homemade land mines seized from him at a checkpoint in Davao City. (69IB photo)
SOLDIERS manning a checkpoint intercepted on Saturday a motorcycle rider believed to be a supporter of the New People’s Army (NPA) who yielded a sack containing six homemade anti-tank land mines in Upper Mabuhay, Paquibato District in Davao City.
Lt. Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, 69th Infantry Battalion commander, identified the arrested suspect as 30-year-old Joey Atienza, a resident of Barangay Paquibato, also in the said district.
“He was arrested by the troops detailed at the checkpoint at around 12:45 noon on Saturday. He was riding a Red Honda TMX 155 motorcycle with plate number 9057-YU when caught in possession of impovised explosive devices,” Pasaporte said.
The military said the NPA has resorted to landmine ambushes against government troops in the past few days that resulted in at least three killed and more than a dozen wounded.
The use of landmines in military operations is strictly prohibited by the Geneva Convention. But the NPA said they are only using command-detonated landmines which are not included on the list of prohibited ordnance.
“The arrest of the suspect and the recovery of the land mines were made possible because of the cooperation and support extended by the residents of Paquibato District who revealed the illegal and criminal activities of the NPA in the area. This is a clear manifestation that the people residing in the area are fed up with the terroristic activities and have long wanted peace,” Pasaporte said.
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