By Teofilo Garcia, Jr. | Philippine News Agency
A communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebel was killed while another was captured following a clash with government troops in Misamis Occidental province, the military said Monday.
In a report, the Army’s 1st Infantry Division (ID) said the clash broke out around 5:15 p.m. Sunday at Barangay Siloy in Calamba, Misamis Occidental.
The 1ID said the clash ensued when the troops of the 10th and 44th Infantry Battalions spotted 10 NPA rebels while conducting a focused military operation in Barangay Siloy.
The 1ID did not identify the slain and captured rebels, except to say they belong to the NPA Guerrilla Front (GF) Sendong of the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee.
A soldier was also wounded during the clash and is recuperating in a hospital.
Troops are tracking down the remaining NPA rebels, who abandoned their slain and wounded comrades, the 1ID said.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, the 1ID and Joint Task Force (JTF)-ZamPeLan commander, called on the remaining members of the GF Sendong to surrender and avail of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.
On Saturday, Nafarrete awarded the Wounded Personnel Medal to three soldiers of the 5th Infantry Battalion for gallantry in action.
The three soldiers were wounded in a clash with a group of NPA rebels on Friday at Barangay Dilimbayan in Maguing town, Lanao del Sur province.
The 1ID also provided food packages and cash assistance to the wounded soldiers who are admitted at Camp Cesar Sang-an Station Hospital in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur province. (PNA)
