NPA violates holiday truce, attacks troops in Camarines Sur

MANILA, Philippines – The New People’s Army (NPA) violated again the holiday ceasefire it declared when its members attacked Army soldiers in Goa, Camarines Sur on Friday.

Maj. Angelo Guzman, spokesman for the Southern Luzon Command, said the attack occurred in Barangay Fuentebella around 4 p.m.

Guzman said members of the 83rd Infantry Battalion engaged the rebels in a 30-minute gunfight. He said the rebels suffered casualties as bloodstains were seen along their escape route.

Among those seized were M14 and AK-50 rifles and two hand grenades.

“The attack seems to be deliberate as landmines were discovered planted along the soldiers’ path only two kilometers away from their patrol base,” Col. Claudio Yucot, commander of the 901st Infantry Brigade, said.

Yucot ordered the troops not to launch pursuit operations for the rebels in compliance with the government-declared ceasefire.

The holiday truce declared by the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines, which started at 1 a.m. of Dec. 23, is effective until 11:50 p.m. today.

On Dec. 23, NPA guerrillas also attacked an Army post in Surigao del Sur. The attack occurred while the soldiers were manning an outpost on the outskirts of Barangay Bitaugan around 9:30 a.m.