Manila : Bandits and communist rebels should be censured for using biological weapons and landmines, a local paper said.
Ten soldiers who were wounded in a landmine explosion and ambush in Sumisip, Basilan, in southern Philippines last Tuesday developed high fever before they were airlifted for treatment to a nearby hospital, Col Jocelyn Turla, commanding officer of the Camp Navarro General Hospital (CNGH) in the south, told the Philippine Star.
"The Abu Sayyaf must have mixed some sort of a biological chemical to their improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," Turla said, adding the wounded soldiers who suffered shrapnel wounds were in stable condition after receiving proper treatment.
Immobilised
The landmine exploded at the boundary of Libug and Cabcaban villages in Sumisip town, and immobilised the military's newly acquired Korean-made armoured carrier, Turla said in a report.
Meanwhile, five Army soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded during a clash with members of the communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels in Tubo, Abra, northern Luzon last Monday night, Major Rosendo Armas, spokesman of the Armed Forces' Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) told the paper.
During a pursuit operations, a soldier tripped on an improvised explosive device, or a landmine, which the NPA guerrillas planted as they fled to a mountainous area in Kili village, Tubo town, Armas said.
He added that the wounded soldiers were immediately flown to nearby Abra Provincial Hospital in Bangued for treatment, and later to the Armed Forces Medical Centre in Quezon City.
"The incident confirms that the NPA has a terrorist character (just like the Abu Sayyaf). The use of landmines has practiced by local terrorist groups against government troops or politicians," Armas said.
Under International Humanitarian Law, warring parties are prohibited to use landmines, the Philippine military said, adding these cases will be elevated to the international court.
