8 soldiers dead in ComVal clashes

TAGUM CITY―At least eight soldiers were killed in a series of clashes between government troops and communist rebels in Compostela Valley province, the military said.

On Sunday dawn, President Duterte visited the wake of four soldiers slain in the clashes.

The fighting that broke out in the mining towns of Monkayo and Maragusan also left 12 soldiers wounded, said Capt. Rhyan Batchar, public affairs officer of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

Batchar said four soldiers and two New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed in the clashes that started on Thursday afternoon, when insurgents ambushed troops from the 25th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Rizal in Monkayo. Two soldiers were also wounded in the attack.

On Friday, around 7:50 a.m., pursuing troops were attacked by about 60 NPA  rebels in the same village, who set off improvised bombs.

Three soldiers died and 10 others were wounded in that incident. A female rebel was also killed while three others were arrested after the gun battle.

Another soldier was killed when yet another clash erupted past 1 p.m, also on Friday, in Parasanon village in Maragusan town, more than 50 kilometers west of Monkayo. The body of a suspected rebel was recovered as well as a Carbine rifle and an improvised explosive device after the incident, Batchar said.

The clashes came over a week after the President lifted the government’s unilateral ceasefire with the communists.

Maj. Gen. Rafael Valencia, 10th ID commander, said the latest incidents only underscored the urgency to end these acts of “senseless violence.” Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao