2 suspected NPA rebels slain in Camarines Sur

New People’s Army (NPA) | INQUIRER.net file photo

LIGAO CITY––Two suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed in an encounter on Wednesday, April 13, with soldiers in Garchitorena town in Camarines Sur province, a report said Thursday.

Government soldiers were conducting patrol around 4:30 p.m. when they encountered six communist rebels at San Vicente village, Colonel Edmundo Peralta, 902nd Infantry Brigade commander, said in a text message.

Before the five-minute firefight, villagers tipped the soldiers about the presence of the armed group around the area.

“The troop tried to talk to the Reds to surrender peacefully but unfortunately declined and opened fire,” Major John Paul Belleza, chief of the public affairs office of the 9th Infantry Division, said in a phone interview.

The government troops recovered an M16 rifle, a 9mm pistol, cellphones, and batteries at the clash site.

The soldiers brought the bodies of the unidentified rebels to the local police station, where they remained unclaimed as of Thursday.

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