MANILA, Philippines — Six police officers were killed and nine others were wounded after a mistaken encounter with Army soldiers in Sta. Rita, Samar yesterday.

Chief Supt. Mariel Magaway, Leyte region police director, confirmed that six policemen with the rank of police officer 1 were killed in the incident that occurred in the hinterlands of Barangay San Roque at around 9:20 a.m.

The dead and wounded policemen belonged to the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 8.

Magaway declined to identify the casualties as their families have yet to be notified of the deaths.

“They were conducting combat operations as part of their training when they were attacked,” he said.

An initial police report said an Army lieutenant and 16 enlisted personnel from the 87th Infantry Battalion opened fire at the policemen.

The firefight lasted for 20 minutes and ended when reinforcements from the police arrived.

It was only then that the soldiers realized their mistake.

Magaway could not say if the soldiers mistook the policemen for New People’s Army rebels.

“We are conducting an investigation with our counterparts from the military to find out what exactly happened,” he said.

It is unclear if the soldiers also suffered casualties.

The Philippine National Police has formed a special task force to investigate the incident.