Six soldiers were hurt after the New People's Army (NPA) rebels bombed an anti-personnel mine in the upland Quirino Village in Las Navas, Northern Samar on Sunday.&nbsp;
According to Lieutenant Colonel Jeomar Buban, the commander of the Philippine Army's 20th Infantry Battalion, the troopers obtained wounds while securing a water system project of the national government's Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP).&nbsp;
He said that they were attacked while doing their best to assist the former conflict-affected communities through their Mobile Community Support and Sustainment Program Teams.&nbsp;
Moreover, Quirino village is among the seven communities in Las Navas that are recepients of the 2022 SBDP - a project of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, the NPA has been known for blowing up banned anti-personnel mines in the province.&nbsp;
In 2022, three mine blasts were reported from April to July in Northern Samar.&nbsp;
NPA rebels use banned explosives since they cannot face the soldiers in an armed encounter.&nbsp;
Northern Samar is known as the hotbed of the armed rebels due to its thick forest and poor road networks.&nbsp;

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6 soldiers injured in NPA attack in Northern Samar