NPA rebs intensify attacks in Caraga Region

A series of attacks launched by suspected communist rebels over the weekend killed a government trooper and wounded an undetermined number of insurgents in the Caraga Region, police and military reports said. A soldier reportedly died in an encounter between New People’s Army (NPA) rebels and the Philippine Army’s 36th Infantry Battalion on Friday in Cabangahan in Tago, Surigao del Sur. Reports said there were a number of rebel casualties although the information could not be immediately confirmed. Also on Friday, armed men believed to be NPA rebels also ambushed a group of police operatives belonging to the Surigao del Norte Provincial Public Safety Company in the mountainous area of Sitio Pangi in Surigao del Norte. Reports said the attack, which took place in the middle of a meeting with civilian residents, left no injuries on the government side. At dawn on Saturday, another group of communist rebels reportedly harassed the 23th Infantry Battalion by firing their guns at the soldiers’ patrol base. The firing incident, which lasted for almost a minute, left no casualties among government troopers. Caraga Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Reynaldo Rafal called for an immediate probe into the series of attacks, pointing to possible lapses in intelligence work. with Paterno Esmaquel and Ben Serrano/RSJ, GMA News