Noncombat troops told to be vigilant

Ground troops were reminded to be always on their toes even when not undertaking combat operations in light of the recent spate of deadly ambuscades staged by communist armed rebels.

In the past week, at least 15 soldiers were killed in four separate ambuscades by suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

Three civilians were also killed in the crossfire.

“With the recent atrocities, ground commanders have been reminded to strictly implement security measures to minimize and preempt unnecessary loss of lives,” Army spokesperson Major Harold Cabunoc said.

He said unit commanders were “required to continuously train the soldiers on basic soldiery skills to counter the enemy’s tactics, and to require them to be security-conscious all the time.”

Cabunoc said the recent attacks were carried out mostly against lightly-armed “peace and development teams which are employed for noncombat missions in far-flung villages.”

The rebels want to “instill fear among the people who support the Army’s activities under Bayanihan,” according to the Army spokesperson.

The Aquino government’s counter-insurgency campaign, dubbed Bayanihan, veers away from a purely combat approach and instead builds on civilian-military ties to overcome armed insurgency and extremism.

“These attacks are deliberately planned by the NPA, intended to discredit the Army’s intentions of supporting the local government units in addressing the root causes of the insurgency problem through Bayanihan,” Cabunoc said.

Cabunoc stressed their troops will “continue to perform their various mandates in depressed communities despite the recent attacks.”

He said the recent setbacks provide “valuable lessons” for the rest “to further hone the capabilities of every soldier.”

Last Wednesday, 11 soldiers including a captain from the Army’s 86th Infantry Battalion, and a civilian were killed when NPA rebels ambushed a three-vehicle convoy in barangay Gumhong in Tinoc, Ifugao.

The next day, April 26, a young boy was killed in another rebel ambush in Las Navas, Northern Samar.

On Sunday, April 29, four soldiers and a civilian were killed after rebels attacked an Army peace and development team in Labo, Camarines Norte.

The soldiers were reportedly conducting community work when they were attacked.