NPA rebels kill 3 Scout Rangers in land mine attack in Agusan Sur

File photo of NPAs in formation with rebel flag.- By: Thom Andrade, InterAksyon

MANILA - Suspected members of the New People's Army killed three Scout Rangers and wounded five others in an ambush Saturday night in Agusan del Sur province.

Major Ezra Balagtey, Eastern Mindanao Command public affairs officer, said a convoy of troops of the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion was enroute to an operation against the NPA in Barangay Los Arcos, Prosperidad town when rebels set off a land mine around 11:35 p.m., causing the casualties.

The site is a "busy" road that connects Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur provinces.

Balagtey said the troops engaged the rebels in a 30-minute firefight.

As the families of the casualties had yet to be notified, their names are being withheld.

The rebels suffered no casualties, but Balagtey said they were prevented from overrunning the convoy. The soldiers eventually recovered another unexploded mine.