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New People's Army
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| 26 May 2006 |
New People's Army
On 24 February, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of emergency in the Philippines, citing the threat of a 'tactical alliance' between the New People's Army (NPA), leftist members of Congress and the military as justification. While there is evidence of co-operation between the NPA and potential military mutineers, there is little real threat that the group could support a coup d'etat and it is incapable of usurping the government or overrunning urban areas. Rather, the NPA poses a far greater danger to security forces in rural areas of the Philippines, particularly in its traditional heartland of central and southern Luzon.
Tactics
The NPA's tactics are based on Maoist theories of guerrilla warfare. It has conducted campaigns of urban terrorism establishing small cells (sparrow squads) trained in assassination and bomb making. The targets of these squads have included government officials and members of the security services, as well as US military personnel and assets.
In 2005, the NPA diversified its tactics, conducting continuous low level attacks, including ambushes and raids, against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Luzon and the Visayas. The timing of these attacks was co-ordinated to take place as the government launched offensives in Mindanao against Islamist separatists. The AFP is extremely overstretched at these times and is unable to retaliate simultaneously to NPA attacks while conducting large-scale operations in Mindanao.
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