Four soldiers and three civilians were injured in an improvised bomb explosion in the province of Laguna on Wednesday afternoon.

1Lt Xy-zon Meneses, spokesman of the 2nd Infantry Division, said the troops of 202nd Brigade were traveling on board a KM450 and V-150 armored vehicle when they were ambushed by around 10 rebels at the boundaries of Brgy San Antonio and Brgy San Jose, Luisiana, Laguna around 3pm.

Meneses said troops were deployed to complement government security forces (AFP and PNP) in Lucban, Quezon when they were fired upon by the rebels after an explosion.

“The troops opened fire and engaged the more or less 10 communist terrorists. The machine gun of the armored vehicle inflicted numerous casualties to fleeing rebels after a brief fire fight,” he said quoting Col. Arnulfo Burgos, the commander of 202nd Brigade.

Meneses said aside from three soldiers who sustained injuries because of the incident, the explosion also caused injury to civilians and damaged their vehicles.

“Aside from the three wounded civilians, two civilian vehicles (one SUV and one delivery van) were damaged due to the explosion,” he said.

Meneses said Major Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, commander of 2nd Division, strongly condemned the desperate act committed by the NPAs that caused wounding of non-combatant civilians and damage on their properties.

"Such terror act clearly shows their utmost disregard to existing laws and clear violations of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CAHRIHL) to which they are signatories,” Parayno said.

“This contradicts what these rebels are trying to project with their propaganda," he added. Robina Asido/DMS