A unit of the New People’s Army (NPA)-Sultan Kudarat ambushed soldiers of the 37th IB along the national highway near Sitio Babangkaw, Barangay Paril, Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat last May 31. Five soldiers were killed while seven others were wounded. The armed offensive disrupted the 37th IB’s combat operations in Palimbang town.

Meanwhile, residents of Barangay Kibohol, Palimbang rejoiced over the NPA’s campaign against large-scale logging in South Daguma. In an operation last June 1, Red fighters successfully stopped an illegal logging operation in Sitio Manga and accosted two operators. The group was led by a certain Mondragon Digandang who is in connivance with illegal logging operations of D.M. Consunji Incorporated (DMCI).

Red fighters explained to them the need to defend the ancestral land and care for the environment. The two committed to stop their illegal operations and cooperation with the DMCI.

In Lanao del Sur, an NPA unit fired at an operating unit of the 34th IB in the mountain area of Maguing town last May 25. Two soldiers were killed while three were wounded.