A Filipino soldier was killed and three others were wounded Sunday in landmine attack staged by leftist rebels in the southern Philippines, a military official said.
A military KM450 truck of 3rd Special Forces Battalion carrying eight personnel was hit by landmines along the national highway in the southern city of Panano around 06:45 a.m. local time, said major Randolph Cabangbang, regional military spokesperson.
Cabangbang said soldiers were supposed to conduct dialogue for local officials in preparation for their medical mission when they were attacked by the rebels, Xinhua reported.
"The landmine used is the pressure type which is banned by the United Nation Conventio on the use of landmines," Cabangbang said.
Soldiers killed two leftist rebels of the New People's Army ( NPA) in a clash shortly after the landmine blast in Talaingod township in Davao del Norte province.
The 5,400-member NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It has been waging a guerrilla campaign on the countryside for 39 years. It halted peace talks with the government in 2003, irritated by the administration's inaction to remove it from the U.S. government's list of international terrorist organizations.
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