TACLOBAN City-An army soldier was reported killed while five others were wounded in an apparent landmine attack on Tuesday in Northern Samar.
The Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division said the victims who belonged to the Army’s Community Support Program (CSP) teams were conducting combat patrol in Barangay Osang, Catubig, Northern Samar, when the blast occurred at about 9:25 a.m.
The identities of the victims were not immediately disclosed.
“The 20IB has been doing its best to help the conflict-affected barangays through our CSP teams to achieve long-lasting peace and sustainable development in Northern Samar,” Lt. Col. Joemar Buban, commanding officer of 20IB, said.
He called the incident a “terroristic attack” of the NPA rebels, adding that it was “a clear violation of the Ottawa Convention (Mine Ban Treaty) that prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.”
Buban also called on the Commission of Human Rights to investigate and issue a statement about the incident.
Barangay Osang was among six barangays in Northern Samar that will receive P20 million worth of support from the Barangay Development Program (SBDP) for the year 2021.
“This is one of the reasons why the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police tied up to redeploy CSP teams in Barangay Osang and other conflict-affected barangays to ensure that the project implementation of SBDP will push through and not be hampered by the NPA’s extortion and intimidation,” said 2Lt. Joyce Ann Bayron, acting spokesperson of the Army’s 201B.
“This is a disservice to our soldiers who worked hard to clear the barangay from NPA’s presence. However, communist NPA terrorists returned in an attempt to recover their lost mass base,” she added.
According to the Army, a landmine attack on April 03, 2022, in Barangay San Miguel, Las Navas, Northern Samar also killed two policemen and injured four other Armymen and another policeman.
Seven Army troopers were also wounded in a landmine explosion at Barangay Magsaysay, Mapanas, Northern Samar, on July 5, 2022.
Eastern Visayas, particularly Samar Island, has remained a stronghold of the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines that has been listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Australia, and the Philippines.