Rebels hit troops aiding evacuees

The Manila Times - August 10, 2006

New People’s Army guerrillas have attacked an Army unit evacuating residents from the slopes of the Mayon Volcano, the military said Wednesday. Five members of the unit were wounded Tuesday when the NPA fired rocket-propelled grenades at their camp near Daraga close to the slopes of the rumbling mountain, it said.

“Army commanders in the area have condemned this inhumane and terroristic activity by the NPA which was conducted at a time when affected civilians need more help and support to alleviate their impoverished situation,” Maj. Ernesto Torres, the Army spokesman, said in a statement.

The 7,400-member NPA has been waging a decades-long Maoist insurgency in the area.

They observed a de facto ceasefire in the region earlier this year when the Bulusan Volcano, 75 kilometers southeast of Mayon, expelled ash
clouds that triggered a brief evacuation of nearby villages earlier this year.

No ceasefire is in place around Mayon.
--AFP