Suspected NPA rebels take away firearms from southern Philippine jail

Suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels on Sunday raided a prison in the southern city of Davao and took away firearms from the armory, local radio reported.

The suspected NPA rebels in five vans approached the Davao Penal Colony, or the city jail for felony convicts at 2 a.m. Sunday, radio dzBB cited sketchy police reports as saying.

The NPAs raided the armory and took away firearms but freed none of the inmates inside the facility before they escaped, the radio added.

Police have secured the jail compound and are now looking into reports that some of the guards were asleep and taken by surprise when the raid took place, according to the radio report.

The Philippine authority estimates that the anti-government NPA presently has some 7,000 armed militants throughout the country, most of them in the rural provinces.

Source: Xinhua