NPA’s arms cache pulled out in Northern Samar town

From the Philippine News Agency (May 3, 2023): NPA’s arms cache pulled out in Northern Samar town (By Sarwell Meniano)

UNEARTHED. Firearms and explosives of the New People's Army were found by soldiers in upland Magsaysay village, Mapanas, Northern Samar, on Tuesday (May 2, 2023). Acting on tips from villagers, troops from the Army’s 74th Infantry Battalion found the buried six anti-personnel mines, a homemade shotgun, an AK47 rifle with a magazine loaded with ammunition. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Army)

TACLOBAN CITY – An arms cache reportedly owned and buried by members of the New People’s Army was discovered Tuesday in the upland Magsaysay village in Mapanas, Northern Samar.

Acting on tips from villagers, troops from the Army’s 74th Infantry Battalion found the buried six anti-personnel mines, a homemade shotgun, and an AK47 rifle with a magazine loaded with ammunition.

“The discovery of the arms cache especially the anti-personnel mines is proof that the communist terrorist group is still blatantly violating the Law of Armed Conflict and the International Humanitarian Law,” the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division said in a statement on Wednesday.

The use of anti-personnel mines has long been banned since the 1997 Ottawa Convention, an understanding among nations against the use of mines as weapons in warfare because it can cause superfluous injury and has psychological effects on the victims.

The military said that banned explosives have also been used by rebels to fortify their lairs in the mountains of Northern Samar.

The discovery of the arms cache on Tuesday came days after an encounter between government forces and NPA combatants on the outskirts of Bobon, Northern Samar.

The April 30 clash killed at least seven NPA members. Troops from the Army’s 803rd Infantry Brigade had an armed encounter with 40 rebels following a tip from residents of sightings of armed men on the outskirts of their village.

Soldiers called for close air and artillery support from the Philippine Air Force since the NPA lair was heavily fortified and surrounded by prohibited anti-personnel mines.

Soldiers recovered one R4 rifle, two M16 rifles, an AK47 rifle, an anti-personnel mine and subversive documents after the firefight.

The armed rebels belong to the subregional guerrilla unit and remnants of the dismantled front committee-2, subregional committee emporium of the NPA Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1200638