WATCH | NPA rebels attack troops on relief mission in Surigao

From InterAksyon (Feb 16): WATCH | NPA rebels attack troops on relief mission in Surigao



Military vehicles used in relief operations in quake-stricken areas of Surigao del Norte. (TV5 video grab)

A military convoy was shot at by communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels Tuesday evening while returning to Surigao City after delivering relief goods to an earthquake-stricken village of San Francisco town in Surigao Del Norte province.

No casualty was reported on the government side in the brief five-minute firefight between soldiers and eight rebels who fired upon the convoy at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The convoy consisted of a platoon of the 30th Infantry Battalion with civilian partners from local government units and non-government organizations.

The military learned that the attackers belonged to the NPA’s guerilla front community 16, which Col. Rico Amaro, batallion commander of the 30th Infantry Division, described as rebels responsible for atrocities such as extortion and terrorism in the area.

The attack came despite a unilateral ceasefire declared by the NPA’s North Eastern Mindanao Command over the weekend in Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Sur to allow the delivery of relief goods to areas stricken by the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that hit Surigao City on Friday (Feb. 10) and left six people dead and more than a hundred individuals injured.

The attack also added to the anxiety of residents who have been feeling the effects of continuous aftershocks.

Residents appealed to the NPA not to hamper the relief operations.

The military on Wednesday condemned the attack on the relief convoy.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Madrigal, commander of the Army’s Fourth ID in Camp Evangelista in Cagayan De Oro City, said “We condemn in the strongest terms possible the recent harassment of NPA on our soldiers who were assisting the civilian volunteers in the delivery of relief goods to the earthquake-stricken residents in the village of Linunggaman, San Francisco, Surigao Del Norte.”

He said the attack waged by the NPA rebels showed that the “terrorists” could not be trusted at all.

“The NPA deceived the entire nation when they attacked the soldiers when they (NPA) even declared a 'unilateral ceasefire' so that the relief goods could be delivered smoothly to earthquake-stricken villages in Surigao Del Norte,” Madrigal said in a statement released Wednesday.

The LGUs and the national government had estimated damage to properties at about P650 million and restoration works went in high gear this week in a bid to bring back normalcy in the lives of the people.

Classes in Surigao City and nearby areas are scheduled to resume on February 20 after government engineers assess the damage to schools.

WATCH THE NEWS5 VIDEO REPORT BY JENNY DONGON BELOW:

[Vdeo report]

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/137094/watch--npa-rebels-attack-troops-on-relief-mission-in-surigao