TACLOBAN CITY –– A suspected communist rebel was killed in an encounter with soldiers in Las Navas town, Northern Samar on Saturday morning.
The body of the unidentified rebel had not been retrieved from Barangay Sag-od, the farthest village of Las Navas where insurgency remains a problem.
Major General Pio Diñoso, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division, said government troops from the 20th Infantry Battalion were on patrol about 10 a.m. when they chanced upon alleged New People’s Army members.
A firefight ensued and a rebel was killed, said Diñoso. The soldiers recovered an M16 rifle. Diñoso said they pursued the rebels immediately.
About 500 rebels remained in Eastern Visayas, operating mostly on Samar Island, he said.
The military is coordinating with the government and the private sector to end the insurgency in the region, one of the poorest in the country./lzb