3 battles between AFP, NPA in Negros Occ. kill 3 rebels, injure 3 troops

NPA rebels in Negros Occidental (File photo)

MANILA, Philippines — Three alleged members of New People’s Army (NPA) were killed and four soldiers were injured in three successive battles in Negros Occidental that spanned two days.

The encounters happened amid the ongoing talks to resume the peace negotiations between government and the communists.

Clashes occurred between the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion and NPA’s Northern Negros Front in Sitio Mansulao, Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante city.

The first encounter, which lasted for about half an hour, transpired at about 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday (February 21) while the troops were on combat operations.

On the same day, after around three hours, the soldiers got involved in a second fight with the same rebel group at about 2:00 p.m.

And then, the next day, early morning, a third battle ensued at about 6:00 a.m.

The shelling on Thursday lasted for five minutes.

The Army said Maoist rebels could still be hiding in the area.

“These series of encounters indicate that the group are still in the area and may have been protecting their wounded comrades, as bloodstains were found at the encounter site and on their route of withdrawal,” it said in a statement.

Dead bodies of two males and a female were recovered, while three firearms — an M653, an AK47, and a .45 caliber pistol — were seized.

The wounded soldiers are in stable condition, the Army said.

Philippine government and National Democratic Front of the Philippines previously agreed to develop a framework meant to resume peacetalks.

Established on March 29, 1969, NPA has been waging the longest-running Maoist insurgency in the world.

As of December 2023, Armed Forces of the Philippines said the number of rebels had gone down to about 1,500.

The figure is far from its peak of around 25,000 in 1987.