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| Southeast Asia |
| Maoists gun down Mindanao mayor |
| 2014-05-30 |
| Police on Thursday reported that militants from the communist New People's Army (NPA) killed a mayor in Compostela Valley whom they had accused of being a member of the "Big 4" illegal logging syndicate operating in the region. Security escorts for Mayor Reynaldo Navarro of Laak town in Compostela Valley killed two of the six NPA rebels who staged the ambush on Wednesday morning. Navarro was on his way to Tagum City in Davao del Sur province when the six NPA militants riding in two motorcycles fired at him along the highway. Police said two of Navarro's security escorts were also injured as they fought back against the attackers, killing two of them on the spot. Police disclosed that five days before the ambush, the NPA had accused the mayor of being an alleged member of the "Big 4" syndicate of illegal loggers. Aris Francisco, spokesman for the NPA regional command, released a videotape of alleged illegal logging in the remote communities of Laak, saying, "Navarro attempted to absolve himself by saying that Laak was merely a transit point of trucks coming from the boundary of Agusan del Sur (province), the site of the illegal logging operations." |
| Posted by:ryuge |