Militiamen engage rebels in firefight in Samar

TACLOBAN CITY – A group of militiamen engaged four communist rebels in a 15-minute gunfight in the mountains of Sta. Rita municipality in Samar at about 7 a.m. Thursday.

No one was killed or wounded in the firefight, which took place between the villages of Maligaya and Union.

But government troops composed of seven members of Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) and a soldier recovered a garand rifle and some personal belongings from the New People’s Army rebels, said Major General Mario Chan, head of the 8th Infantry Division.