Soldier, 3 rebels killed in Ilocos Sur clash

BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — A government soldier and three suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed on Saturday in two separate encounters in Ilocos Sur province.

The soldiers belonging to the Army’s 702nd Infantry Brigade were on a security patrol at Barangay Suagayan in Sta. Lucia town near Candon City when they encountered the suspected rebels at about 2 p.m.

Those killed included a female medical officer and a bomb expert from the NPA’s Komiteng Larangang Gerilya-South Ilocos headed by a certain “Ka Nero,” said Maj. Ericson Bulosan, spokesperson of the Army’s Northern Luzon Command.

The slain soldier was not immediately identified. In an ensuing encounter with the Army’s 81st Infantry Battalion, an NPA rebel was killed and two civilians were hit and wounded by stray bullets.

—Kimberlie Quitasol