2 cops hurt in another NPA ambush in Samar

MANILA, Philippines—Two police officers were injured when communist rebels detonated a roadside improvised explosive and opened fire on the officers’ vehicle in Samar Thursday afternoon.

The incident took place three days after the New People’s Army guerrillas in Allacapan, Cagayan killed eight members of the Special Action Force.

Senior Police Officer 3 Francisco Cartel said the attack in Samar took place in Barangay (village) Tagbaya-on, Jiabong around 1:15 p.m.

The two officers from the Paranas Municipal Police Station along with two others were on their way to Catbalogan when the insurgents set off the explosive device  and shot the officers.

Two police officers who remained unidentified were wounded while two others were unhurt.

On Monday, the NPA guerrillas set off a roadside bomb and opened fire on a truck carrying SAF commandos, killing eight and wounding seven officers.

The victims were en route to a hospital for a regular medical test when the rebels, hiding in the bush along the road, staged the ambush.

Such hit-and-run attacks are common throughout the 44-year rural-based Marxist insurgency, which has claimed an estimated 120,000 lives.