OVP Defense Situationer

May 27 -28, 2013

Reds ambush PNP-SAF; 7 dead, 8 wounded TUGUEGARAO CITY - At least seven members of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have died and eight others were injured when they were ambushed by unidentified number of fully- armed New Peoples Army (NPA) rebels along the road near the boundary of barangays Cataratan and Centro West, Allacapan Cagayan early Monday morning. Chief Inspector Andree Camhol Abella, spokesperson of the Cagayan Valley regional police office, confirmed the ambush incident which was happened at about 8:30 AM Monday. The names of killed policemen and the eight wounded others are on the process of identification as of press time, she said. She disclosed that the policemen were on board in vehicle from their detachment at Barangay Cataratan, Allacapan town enroute to the headquarters of the Cagayan police provincial office to undergo the routine physical fitness check up when they were ambushed. Our policemen were set to have an ECG examination in the headquarters of the Cagayan PPO when they were ambushed by still unidentified group of NPA rebels, she said. She said that the ambush site was allegedly 2 kilometers away from the police station of Allacapan town. She reiterated that hot-pursuit operations of the fleeing rebels from the ambush site are going on. Senior Insp. Cesar Orlanes, spokesman of the Cagayan provincial police, detailed the attack on the SAF commandos. "Their vehicle was hit when a landmine exploded along the road," said Orlanes "There were some 30 rebels involved," he added. It was not immediate clear as of press time if the rebels also carted away the firearms of the slain and wounded cops but Orlanes said all the wounded cops were already taken to the nearby hospital. Communist insurgency is one of the security problems in Cagayan. The strength of the NPA in the province is not immediately available. But the military said the NPA force has already been reduced to more or less 4,000 from its peak of more than 26,000 in the 1980s. The peace negotiations with the NPA, which has been waging more than four decades of armed struggle against the government, recently hit a snag. The Cagayan ambush occurred a few days after seven soldiers were killed and nine others

were wounded in Sulu firefight with the extremist group Abu Sayyaf. ( Freddie G. Lazaro, Aaron Recuenco, www.mb.com.ph 05-27-2013)