TACLOBAN CITY –– At least six soldiers were killed while 20 others were wounded in an encounter in a remote village in Borongan City, Eastern Samar on Monday afternoon. Reports reaching the Police Regional Office in Eastern Visayas based in Palo town, Leyte, showed that the government troops belonging to the 14th Infantry Battalion based in Oras town, Eastern Samar were in Sitio Bangin, Barangay Pinana-an in Borongan City on a patrol operation about 5 p.m. when they encountered about 50 members of the New People’s Army. ADVERTISEMENTThe rebels were reported to have detonated six improvised explosive devices while they were firing at the soldiers. The bodies had been retrieved while the wounded soldiers have been airlifted to a medical clinic at Camp Lukban, the headquarter of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, Samar. The death of the six soldiers and the wounding of 20 others were seen as a major blow to the government’s campaign to end the region’s insurgency problem, particularly on Samar Island.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer November 12, 2019 04:38 UTC