INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
BACOLOD CITY—About 530 residents were evacuated Wednesday after government troops clashed with suspected communist rebels in southern Negros Occidental.
Soldiers from the 15th Infantry Battalion encountered at about 11 a.m. five New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Barangay Camalanda, Cauayan town, 129 kilometers from this capital city.
The soldiers pursued the rebels, and another shootout occurred about 5 p.m. in the same barangay, said Brigadier General Leonardo Peña, 302nd Infantry Brigade commander.
He said he was told that a soldier was wounded.
Residents from 113 households had to be evacuated from puroks Malipayon and Tabon-Tabon in Barangay San Jose, Sipalay City, to prevent being hit in the crossfire.
Dionilo Bogtae, head of the Sipalay Emergency Assistance and Rescue Services, said the clash site took place near the border of Sipalay, which is adjacent to Cauayan.
The residents are housed in Binulig Elementary School in San Jose.
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