2 killed as rebels attack police station in Agusan del Sur

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Two civilians were killed while a police officer was wounded when heavily armed communist rebels stormed the police station in Trento, Agusan del Sur, early Saturday, the military said.

The names of the casualties were not immediately available.

It was also not clear what the civilians were doing at the police station when the rebels, on board two cargo trucks and a van, attacked around 5 a.m., Major Jacob Obligado, spokesman of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said by phone.

Obligado said the policemen manning the station fought back against the attackers, who numbered about 40, and “were able to successfully defend the police station and the town hall.”

He said the rebels, who also suffered casualties based on the accounts of the police, fled after an hour-long battle.

The New People’s Army has been waging a protracted war against the government for more than four decades now.

The military has been claiming that the NPA’s influence has generally weakened in most parts of the country but it still maintained a considerable presence in Mindanao’s rural areas.