4 soldiers hurt in NPA ambush in Negros Oriental

BACOLOD CITY –– Four soldiers were injured in an ambush by suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay Luz, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental on Tuesday night.

Second Lieutenant Neil Christian Cureg, Sergeant Ronald Sabay, Sergeant Gelmart Alegroso, and PFC Joven Ticzon were on their way to Guihulngan City when NPA rebels detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) and opened fire at them.

The ambush led to a 10-minute firefight, which prompted the rebels to flee, said First Lieutenant Maria Allein Veluz, 62nd Infantry Battalion Civil-Military Operations officer.

Cureg, Sabay, Alegroso, and Ticzon suffered slight injuries and are now all in stable condition.

Recovered from the encounter site were components of exploded IEDs, including  150 meters electric wires, six dry cell batteries used as the explosives power source, three Molotov bombs, an empty backpack, 23 rounds of an M60 machine gun, and 67 empty shells of M-16 rifle./lzb