5 hurt in land mine blast in Davao City - officials
11/24/2009 | 01:00 PM
Four soldiers and a civilian were wounded following a land mine blast in the southern city of Davao Monday afternoon, a military report said.
Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command, said the explosion occurred 3 p.m. Monday as elements of the Army's 69th Infantry Battalion were conducting pursuit operations against an undetermined number of suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels in Fatima village in the city's Paquibato district.
Of those wounded, three soldiers were taken to the Davao Medical Center for treatment. The other soldier and the unnamed civilian only sustained minor injuries, said Col. Domingo Tutaan Jr., deputy commander of the 1003rd Brigade.
Tutaan said military operations in the area against the group of NPA leader Leoncio Pitao a.ka. Kumander Parago have been ongoing since November 14.
"We are tightening on their area of operation," Tutaan said in an interview Tuesday.
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered military and police forces to crush the communist insurgency by the end of her term in June 2010. - RSJ, GMANews.TV
Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command, said the explosion occurred 3 p.m. Monday as elements of the Army's 69th Infantry Battalion were conducting pursuit operations against an undetermined number of suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels in Fatima village in the city's Paquibato district.
Of those wounded, three soldiers were taken to the Davao Medical Center for treatment. The other soldier and the unnamed civilian only sustained minor injuries, said Col. Domingo Tutaan Jr., deputy commander of the 1003rd Brigade.
Tutaan said military operations in the area against the group of NPA leader Leoncio Pitao a.ka. Kumander Parago have been ongoing since November 14.
"We are tightening on their area of operation," Tutaan said in an interview Tuesday.
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered military and police forces to crush the communist insurgency by the end of her term in June 2010. - RSJ, GMANews.TV
