AFP attack planes mobilized; 12 killed in NPA-military clashes (tags)
The area command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has mobilized attack planes and gunship helicopters to extend air support to the combat battalions currently pursuing communist insurgents in Compostela Valley province and Davao Oriental. Clashes between government troops and members of the New People’s Army (NPA) left four soldiers and eight rebels dead, military officials yesterday said. Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Obaniana, AFP’s Eastern Mindanao Command area chief, ordered Maj. Gen. Ernesto Boac, 10th Infantry Division (ID) commander, to use all available combat personnel and military bulldozers to “pin down” the communist rebels.