Gov’t forces overrun NPA camp in Mt. Province

From the Manila Times (Aug 31): Gov’t forces overrun NPA camp in Mt. Province

CAMP BADO DANGWA, Benguet: Authorities captured a New People’s Army (NPA) Camp in Mt. Province after two days of operation.

C/Supt. Benjamin B. Magalong, Regional Director of the Police Regional Office in the Cordillera (PRO-Cor), said the camp located in the remote barangay of Aguid, Sagada, Mt. Province was used as staging area of the rebel group for attacks on police personnel in the province.

Intelligence information gathered that the CPP/NPA under the Kilusang Larangan Guerilla (KLG) Marco Command operating in Mt. Province established the camp, Magalong said.

The camp was successfully captured on Friday by members of the PRO-Cor, 54th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army and the Philippine Air Force
Magalong said, the captured camp, is being used by the NPA as its training ground for its forces in preparation for the staging of a massive attack against government forces deployed in the province for peacekeeping activities.

After overrunning the camp, Magalong said the joint police and military personnel discovered, subversive documents, medical kits and improvised explosive devices (IED) installed along the route and around the camp intended to inflict mass casualties to the operating forces of the government.

To avoid mass casualties and further injury to the operating personnel, PRO-Cor requested for close air support delivered along the route towards the camp and its surrounding to soften the enemy fire and disarm through munitions the IEDs scattered by the enemy prior to the clearing and documentation of the camp, Magalong said.

According to Magalong, the CPP/NPA had been utilizing IED in their operation to inflict mass casualty to any government troops as proven in their previous operation such as in the ambushed of the PNP Scout trainee in Tadian, Mt. province and in the ambush of the PNP SAF personnel in Ca- gayan province.

The raid on the camp was a success Magalong said, with the government sources securing the camp and with minimal casualties.

On Thursday, during the initial attack on the camp, two policemen, PO1 Primo Marcelo and PO1 Romel T. Sagot, were injured after they were met with heavy gunfire by some 35 heavily armed communist rebels within the camp.

Meanwhile, a government official from Sagada said, in a text message to The Manila Times, the bombings and the strafing of the authorities has caused left school children and pregnant women were traumatized.

The local authorities he said, were not informed of a military operation in the area.

http://www.manilatimes.net/govt-forces-overrun-npa-camp-in-mt-province/35210/