Soldier, 2 militiamen killed in ComVal rebel attack

TAGUM CITY, Philippines – A soldier and two militiamen were killed when suspected New People’s Army rebels attacked a government detachment in Mabini, Compostela Valley, Tuesday morning, military and police officials said.

The incident happened around 10 a.m. when an undetermined number of communist guerrillas stormed the a militia detachment under the Army’s 72nd Infantry Battalion in Barangay (village) Tagbalaobao, Lieutenant Ben Ari Hernaez, civil-military officer of the army’s 71st Infantry Battalion, said.

Hernaez identified the slain soldiers as Sergeant Danilo Baniqued, detachment commander. The identities of the militiamen were not immediately available.

“Two militiamen and a civilian were also wounded,” Hernaez said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Senior Superintendent Timoteo Pacleb, Compostela Valley police chief, said the incident happened just four kilometers from the national highway.

Pacleb said elements of Mabini police station and the 2nd Maneuvering Platoon of Compostela Valley Provincial Public Safety Company were now in the area for pursuit operations and the establishment of roadblocks and checkpoints.

The wounded were undergoing treatment at the Davao Regional Hospital in Tagum while pursuit operations were being launched by soldiers and policemen against the attackers, said Hernaez.