2 soldiers killed in North Cotabato landmine blast

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Two soldiers were killed when they stepped on a landmine believed to have been planted by communist New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in a remote village in North Cotabato on Monday morning, the military said.

Colonel Leopoldo Galon, speaking for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the soldiers, whose identities were withheld to give military authorities time to inform their next of kin, were part of a team of 40th Infantry Battalion soldiers patrolling Barangay (village) Buhay, Makilala, North Cotabato.

They were patrolling the village when a landmine went off at about 10 a.m., Galon said.

The landmine explosion targeting government troops came a day after elements of the 57th Infantry Battalion clashed with about 50 New People’s Army rebels in nearby Barangay Batasan that left five soldiers wounded.

Batasan is a known stronghold of the NPA.