2 rebs slain in failed raid on Army outpost

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Two New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas were killed while two others were wounded during a botched attempt to take over an Army detachment in a remote village in Tampakan, South Cotabato yesterday.

Lt. Col. Franklin del Prado, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the rebels surrounded the detachment of the 27th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Danlag and then opened fire with automatic rifles, triggering an hour-long gunbattle.

Although outnumbered, the soldiers manning the detachment managed to outmaneuver the rebels, killing two of them and wounding two others.

Village leaders have confirmed that two guerrillas, identified only as Ka Donato and Ka Berto, were killed in the ensuing firefight.

The guerrillas retreated to the hinterland carrying two wounded comrades after sensing that responding soldiers and militiamen from nearby areas had started to close in on them.

Del Prado said the NPA attack could be meant to disrupt the continuing low-level peace dialogues between officers of the 27th IB and leaders of different sectors in Barangay Danlag. — John Unson