IEDs found at NPA factory to be dismantled

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The Philippine Army will dismantle the 163 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that soldiers found at an alleged New People’s Army (NPA) bomb factory in Loreto town in Agusan del Sur last Wednesday.

Captain Christian Uy, spokesman for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit would handle the dismantling of the bombs.

The landmines were found by troopers in Sitio Mampait, Barangay Kauswagan following a series of clashes with the rebels.

Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the soldiers found a generator at the site. Cruz said the order to manufacture the bombs came from the NPA’s Central Committee.