TWO policemen, including a lieutenant, were injured in a landmine attack staged by New People’s Army rebels in Binalbagan town in Negros Occidental yesterday.
The Western Visayas regional police office named the injured lawmen as Lt. Charles Richard Casalan and Cpl. Julius Tranquillero, both with the Binalbagan police station.
Police said a team of policemen, including Casalan and Tranquillero, was dispatched to respond to information about a body that was found in the area. While the policemen were on their way to the area, the rebels detonated an anti-personnel mine in Sitio Candida in Barangay Bi-ao at around 8:15 am, injuring Casalan and Tranquillero.
The police team fought back, forcing the rebels to gradually withdraw. Pursuit operations were ongoing.
Casalan and Tranquillero have been brought to a hospital.
Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, chief of the Western Visayas regional police, denounced the attack, saying the communists intended to kill the policemen “who are lawfully performing their mandated duties.”
