Soldier wounded in new NPA ambush in Southern Philippines

From the Mindanao Examiner (Aug 25): Soldier wounded in new NPA ambush in Southern Philippines

One army soldier was wounded after communist rebels ambushed a military patrol in the southern Philippine province of Agusan del Norte, officials said on Tuesday.

Army Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the attack occurred in the village of Tagbongabong in Remedios Romualdez town on Monday afternoon.

He said soldiers from the 29^th Infantry Battalion were patrolling the village when New People’s Army fighters ambushed them, sparking a gunbattle that lasted about 10 minutes.

“A soldier of the 29th Infantry was wounded after its patrolling elements were fired upon by more or less 20 NPA rebels in Sitio Bahi in Tagbongabong. The NPA group withdrew and escaped from the scene after about 10-minute firefight,” Caber said.

“The wounded soldier was immediately given first aid care by the troops and is now on stable condition,” he added.

There was no official report of enemy casualties. It was the second ambush in just 2 days in the region. On August 23, NPA rebels also ambush an army patrol that left one soldier wounded in Davao del Sur’s Malita town.

The NPA has been waging a secessionist war the past four decades in an effort to overthrow the democratic government and install a Maoist state.

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/soldier-wounded-in-new-npa-ambush-in-southern-philippines/