A security guard of mining firm Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI)
was killed while another survived an ambush staged by alleged New People’s Army
(NPA) rebels in an upland village in Tampakan town in South
Cotabato on Thursday morning.
Lt. Col. Benjamin Leander, commanding officer of the Army’s
27th Infantry Battalion, said the security guards were on their way to the
company’s water point or station in Barangay Tablu at around 7 a.m. when they
were waylaid by the suspected rebels.
He said one of the security guards, who is under the Catena
Security Inc., was hit in the initial volley of shots fired by around 15
heavily-armed rebels.
The Army official withheld the identity of the slain
security guard as his family has yet to be informed about the matter.
“It was a planned attack and clearly targeted the company’s
personnel,” he said in a radio interview.
Leander said the incident happened around 200 meters away
from their security detachment in the area.
He said their personnel, who were on their way back to the
detachment at that time, were able to respond to the attack and managed to
return fire.
The rebels eventually withdrew towards the mountainous
portion of nearby Columbio town in Sultan Kudarat.
Leander added that they have deployed additional troops to
the area to assist in the clearing and pursuit operations against the rebels.
A number of security personnel and contracted workers of SMI
had been killed in the last several years due to attacks staged by NPA rebels.
SMI, which is owned by Indophil Resources NL and Alsons
Prime Investment Corporation, is currently working on a planned large-scale
copper and gold mining project in Tampakan town.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=867579
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