1 cop killed, 2 hurt, 3 abducted in NPA attack in Rizal
01/04/2009 | 07:06 PM
(Update) MANILA, Philippines – Communist guerrillas ambushed a patrol car east of Manila, killing a policeman, wounding two others, and apparently seizing three officers, authorities said Sunday.
The New People's Army ambush Saturday near Rodriguez town in Rizal province, about 40 kilometers east of Manila, was the latest skirmish in the decades-old Marxist rebellion and among the closest attacks to the Philippine capital.
About 60 rebels detonated a land mine then opened fire with rifles and grenade launchers on a passing patrol car carrying six policemen near the village of Macabud, police chief Senior Superintendent Ireneo Dordas said.
One policeman was killed instantly and two were wounded in a brief exchange of fire, he told The Associated Press by phone.
Three policemen were missing and believed taken captive by the rebels, Dordas said.
The guerrillas are still holding captive an army officer, 1st Lt. Vicente Cammayo, in the southern Philippines. Rebel spokesman Rigoberto Sanchez said in a statement that the guerrillas delayed Cammayo's release early this month because of ongoing military offensives.
The 120,000-strong military has continued to weaken the rebels with relentless offensives aimed at meeting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's target of turning one of Asia's longest communist insurgencies into a common police concern by 2010, military spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said.
Government offensives reduced the number of guerrillas by nearly a tenth to 5,239 and reduced their rural strongholds from 87 to 62 last year, Torres said.
The communist rebellion began in the late 1960s and reached its peak in the mid-'80s when the number of guerrillas reached 26,000. Since then, the rebels' ranks have thinned due to battle casualties, surrenders and factionalism.
Peace talks brokered by Norway stalled in 2004 when the guerrillas accused the Philippine government of campaigning to persuade the United States to add them to its list of terrorist organizations. - AP
The New People's Army ambush Saturday near Rodriguez town in Rizal province, about 40 kilometers east of Manila, was the latest skirmish in the decades-old Marxist rebellion and among the closest attacks to the Philippine capital.
About 60 rebels detonated a land mine then opened fire with rifles and grenade launchers on a passing patrol car carrying six policemen near the village of Macabud, police chief Senior Superintendent Ireneo Dordas said.
One policeman was killed instantly and two were wounded in a brief exchange of fire, he told The Associated Press by phone.
Three policemen were missing and believed taken captive by the rebels, Dordas said.
The guerrillas are still holding captive an army officer, 1st Lt. Vicente Cammayo, in the southern Philippines. Rebel spokesman Rigoberto Sanchez said in a statement that the guerrillas delayed Cammayo's release early this month because of ongoing military offensives.
The 120,000-strong military has continued to weaken the rebels with relentless offensives aimed at meeting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's target of turning one of Asia's longest communist insurgencies into a common police concern by 2010, military spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said.
Government offensives reduced the number of guerrillas by nearly a tenth to 5,239 and reduced their rural strongholds from 87 to 62 last year, Torres said.
The communist rebellion began in the late 1960s and reached its peak in the mid-'80s when the number of guerrillas reached 26,000. Since then, the rebels' ranks have thinned due to battle casualties, surrenders and factionalism.
Peace talks brokered by Norway stalled in 2004 when the guerrillas accused the Philippine government of campaigning to persuade the United States to add them to its list of terrorist organizations. - AP
