AFP operation fails in ComVal and Davao Oriental
A unit of the Conrado Heredia Command under the New People's Army Merardo Arce Command (MAC-NPA) in Southern Mindanao Region successfully fought it out with and thwarted a platoon from the Second Scout Ranger Battalion of the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR) that attacked a temporary NPA encampment in Sitio Karampil, Barangay Aliwagwag, Cateel, Davao Oriental on May 29.
Contrary to claims made by 10th ID spokesperson Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza that the military merely sustained three wounded, MAC-NPA spokesperson Comrade Rigoberto Sanchez reported that the Philippine Army's elite unit suffered 11 casualtes (eight dead and three wounded). The NPA lost two Red fighters and suffered four wounded, three of them in serious condition.
The wounded Red fighters were treated at a medical station within a guerrilla base. One of the wounded fighters remains within the base because NPA medics are capable of treating him.
The incident was spurred by successive losses by units of the 10th ID, including the Second Scout Ranger Battalion. On the whole, the 10th ID has suffered 25 casualties--16 dead and nine wounded.
Since May 22, several battalions of soldiers have been scouring at least 13 towns in Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental and Agusan del Sur. Using "civil-military operations" and "special operations" as cover, the 10th ID has been ruthlessly attacking the towns of Maragusan, Compostela, Monkayo, Montevista, Maco, Mawab, Pantukan and Laak in Compostela Valley; Cateel, Boston, Manay and Tarragona in Davao Oriental; and Trento in Agusan del Sur.
The latest encouner with the Second Scout Ranger Battalion is the third since the massive military operation was launched. After a week, five soldiers from the 66th IB were killed in an ambush in Sitio Kahayag, Barangay Andili, Mawab on May 27.
That same day, three soldiers of the 67th IB were killed and six were wounded in another ambush in Sitio Junction, Barangay Cabasagan, Boston. Farmers in the area say that two Scout Ranger officers were among those killed in this gunbattle, based on accounts from the soldiers themselves.
