3 soldiers wounded in South Philippine bomb blast

At least three government troops were wounded in Tuesday's bomb explosion in southern Philippines. According to Lt.Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, battalion commander, a team from the 69th Infantry Battalion led by Lt. Brian Malinao was conducting security patrol at Lumiad village, in Davao City's Paquibato district when a homemade bomb believed exploded around 6 a.m., local time. Three soldiers suffered shrapnel wounds due to the explosion and were rushed to the nearest local hospital. "Pursuit operation was now being launched against the perpetrator of this terroristic act,"Pasaporte said, alleging that the leftist New People's Army was behind the explosion. Tuesday's incident came just days after NPA rebels, including a female fighter, killed a village official in nearby Compostela Valley province for allegedly supporting the government's counter- insurgency activities. The 4,000-strong NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting a leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces since 1969.