DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) – Four children were wounded when a live ammunition from a 40-mm mortar exploded in a village in the southern Philippines early Sunday afternoon, the military said Monday.
The kids were playing when the explosive from an M-203 grenade launcher went off in Mabuhay village, Tandag city in the southern province of Surigao del Sur around 2:30 p.m., said Maj. Julio Eugenio Osias IV, spokesperson of the army's 4th Infantry Division.
Osias said the live ammunition could have been from the leftist New People's Army (NPA) rebels who on Friday raided the village hall where soldiers doing community works were resting. The rebels killed five and wounded two other government troops.
Osias did not elaborate on how the explosion was triggered.
Sunday's blast happened just hours after NPA rebels ambushed a group of soldiers on their way to buy provisions in the nearby Bislig city, killing a civilian and injuring seven troops, including a junior officer.
The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been waging a guerrilla campaign in the countryside for more than four decades.
The Philippine military estimates more than 4, 000 NPA guerrilla fighters are scattered in over 60 provinces throughout the Southeast Asian country.
-------------------------------------------------
December 19, 2011 02:10 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment