3 soldiers wounded in Abra ambush

BAGUIO CITY — Three soldiers were wounded when communist guerrillas ambushed a military convoy in the Abra town of Lagangilang last Friday, a belated report said.

As standard procedure, the military withheld the identities of the wounded soldiers, who belong to the Abra-based 17th Infantry Battalion, pending notification of their families.

Lt. Col. Preme Monta, information officer of the Armed Forces’ Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), however, gave assurances that they only sustained minor injuries.

Monta said they classified the incident as a "far ambush" since the ambushers were positioned very far from their targets and were only within the maximum range of their firearms.

In the military convoy were Lt. Col. Eduardo Gonzaga, commanding officer of the 17th IB, and two other military officers.

Monta said the New People’s Army rebels might have not really planned the attack, only that the convoy was a "target of opportunity" for them.

He denied that the ambush had any tactical effect on the military’s ongoing anti-insurgency operations in Abra.

Earlier, the NPA’s Agustin Begnalen Command had threatened to intensify its guerrilla warfare, claiming that it now has more members and an expanded base.

In December 1999, the NPA unit owned up to the killing of priest-turned-rebel Conrado Balweg.