AFP officer wounded, 2 cops, 1 soldier abducted by NPAs
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines/22 May 2009 by BP Garcia–A senior military official was injured in a clash while three others including two policemen and a soldier were abducted by the New People Army (NPA) insurgents in the province of Compostela Valley province, a military official disclosed Friday.
Lt. Col. Kurt Decapia, Public Affairs Officer of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the clash took place while the troops were on a rescue operation after the NPAs seized Friday the two policemen and a soldier.
Decapia disclosed that the abducted government troops were seized around 8 a.m. Friday in a checkpoint of the NPA’s Front Committee 20 in barangay Pasian, Mongkayo town.
He said they have yet to ascertain the identities of the two policemen and only identified the soldier as a certain Staff Sergeant Maglangit of the Army’s 36th Infantry Battalion.
He identified the injured senior military official as Lt. Col. Roberto Ancan, chief of the Army’s 25th Infantry Battalion.
Ancan was injured in a 20-minute firefight with the NPAs blocking force in barangay Mangayon, Mongkayo town, according to Decapia.
Decapia said Ancan led a group of soldiers coming from an Army based in barangay Mangayon and launched a rescue operation after receiving report that the NPAs abducted the two policemen and Maglangit.
Decapia said a clash ensued when Ancan and his men stumbled on a blocking force of the NPA while they were about to reach barangay Pasian.
He said Ancan was slightly wounded on the left shoulder and was immediately airlifted to Camp Panacan Station Hospital in Davao City for treatment.
“He (Ancan) is now on stable condition,” Decpaia said.
Decapia said the NPAs that abducted the two policemen and Maglangit were remnants of the NPA group that withdrew from Agusan del Sur.
Heavy fighting ensued Thursday in Kabantao, Trento, Agusan del Sur between the government forces and NPAs that resulted to the death of 10 insurgents.
The troops also recovered high-powered firearms.
Decapia said pursuit and rescue operations continue in the hinterlands of Mongkayo town in Compostela Valley province. (BP Garcia, The PhilSouth Angle)
