37 Soldiers
Killed, 42 Others Wounded in Fresh NPA Offensives
But AFP in tit-for-tat with armed guerrillas
Recent military and NPA
reports reveal escalation of armed hostilities in many provinces across
the country.
BY BULATLAT
The Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) recently revealed a number of successful raids on
suspected camps abandoned by the Marxist New People’s Army (NPA) in Aurora
and other provinces. Before this, AFP operations led to the capture or
killing of a number of NPA guerrillas in Ilocos Norte and Isabela in
northern Philippines, and in Samar,
Negros, Butuan and Agusan del Sur, central and south of the country.
Defense Secretary
Avelino Cruz had earlier predicted that the NPA, with which government has
been in armed hostilities since 1969, will be wiped out in 10 years.
Based on recent news
dispatches from the underground Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)
and its united front umbrella, National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDFP), the NPA – the CPP’s armed component – claims to have
stepped up its own attacks on AFP units and outposts.
In Mindanao,
Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos, National Democratic Front (NDF) spokesperson in
southern Philippines, said in an
Oct. 17 statement emailed to media there were at least 25 “successful”
armed actions in less than a month - from Sept. 24-Oct. 10. He also said
that NPA tactical offensives in Mindanao have intensified to an average of
1-2 tactical offensives each day from the previous rate of 1-2 tactical
offensives every week.
Among the offensives,
Madlos said that the NPA raid in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur and ambushes in
Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental and in Mat-i, Surigao City gave “severe
blows to the enemy,” with 18 soldiers killed and 27 wounded.
In southern Luzon, the Romulo Jallores Command reported through a
statement emailed to media that NPA units in Bicol, carried out around 38
offensives from Sept. 24-Oct. 1.
The military lost 15
soldiers with another 15 wounded, the command said. No casualty was
reported on the NPA side.
Another dispatch
reported that an NPA unit in mid-northern Cebu, central Visayas, overran
the Philippine Army’s 78th Infantry Battalion in Barangay (village) Sumon,
Tuburan Oct. 15
Seized by the NPA in the raid were four M16s, four M14s and a Motorola
handheld radio, the dispatch said. The NPA claimed to have killed three
soldiers.
In northern
Philippines, two raids surprised the 54th IBPA based in San
Carlos, Echague, Isabela, on Sept. 22 and 24. The attacks led to the
killing of five soldiers.
In Abra, northern
Luzon, the Agustin Begnalen Command reported that it conducted punitive
operations on Oct. 14 against elements of the 41st and 77th IBs,
both based in Bituen Patrol Base, Barangay Lenneng, Baay-Licuan.
Meanwhile, soldiers
from the 68th IB reportedly suffered casualties when they attacked
suspected NPA guerillas in Sitio Kamatis, Brgy. Caagutayan, San Teodoro,
Oriental Mindoro, in southern Luzon, on Oct. 2. A lieutenant was killed
while four other soldiers were wounded. Bulatlat
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