NPA rebels step up attacks in North Cotabato, Davao

DAVAO CITY—Communist rebels took six people hostage, seized firearms, set off a bomb that wounded six soldiers and forcibly took several vehicles in at least three attacks in a span of 24 hours in the provinces of North Cotabato and Davao del Norte starting on Monday, the military said yesterday.

The New People’s Army (NPA) has not owned up to the attacks, however.

Col. Leopoldo Galon, spokesperson of the military’s 5th civil-military affairs office here, said that on Monday, communist rebels flagged down motorists in Barangay (village) New Israel in Makilala, North Cotabato, and forcibly seized six vans.

The rebels did not harm the van drivers and set them free, he said.

Galon said around 8 p.m. on Monday, at least 15 rebels stormed the office of Dasia Security Agency in Orange Valley in Barangay Magugpo South in Tagum City.

He said the rebels gained entry to the security office after introducing themselves as policemen. The rebels took six hostages from the security office. Superintendent Epe Rillo, Tagum City police chief, said the rebels also took firearms.

Senior Superintendent Camilo Cascolan, Compostela Valley police chief, said the rebels used two armored vehicles of the security office as getaway vehicles. These were abandoned in a village in Maco, Compostela Valley.

Galon said an hour before the armored vehicles were found, six soldiers were also injured when their truck hit a land mine.

The truck was carrying civilians, too, who hitched a ride to Tagum City. Dennis Jay Santos and Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao