DAVAO CITY—New People’s Army guerrillas who pretended to be demonstrators raided on Thursday a police station in Davao Oriental and looted it of various weapons.

A policeman was wounded when he tried to ward off the attack at about 8:50 a.m. by some 50 communist rebels.

Chief Supt. Andres Caro II, Davao regional police commander, identified the wounded policeman only as Police Officer 1 Pesian.

The raiders took six M-16 rifles, two 9 mm pistols, and one caliber .22 revolver from the policemen.

Caro said the raiders arrived in BanayBanay town, 112 kilometers east of this city, onboard two light trucks and pretended to be demonstrators.

Policemen belonging to the Regional Mobile Group (RMG) who were sent to the town to reinforce the town’s police force said some of the raiders carried protest placards while others pretended to be members of a Christian group about to hold a religious fellowship meeting.

Caro said the guerrillas belonged to the NPA Guerrilla Front Committee 18 and were led by a Danilo Nodalo, alias Ka Benjie.

The RMG said the guerrillas were reported to have come from adjacent southern town of Sigaboy. After raiding the police station, the rebels withdrew through the muddy rice fields at the back of the town hall and fled toward the jungles of barangays Mahayap and Kauswagan

Reinforcement forces, such as the 1106 Police Mobile Group and the Army, have recovered the vehicles used by the raiders, an Usuzu light truck and a Mitsubishi L-300 van.

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Rebels attack police station, take weapons

DAVAO CITY—New People’s Army guerrillas who pretended to be demonstrators raided on Thursday a police station in Davao Oriental and looted it of various weapons.

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