Soldiers kill 2 rebels in Davao del Norte
TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte—Two alleged communist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in Kapalong, Davao del Norte on Sunday, police and military officials said.
Chief Inspector Carl Omar Fiel, Kapalong police chief, told the Inquirer in a telephone interview that soldiers from the Army’s 60th Infantry Battalion were on patrol in the upland village of Gupitan when they encountered an undetermined number of New People’s Army guerrillas around 11:15 a.m.
With an area of 65,000 hectares, Gupitan is the largest village in Davao del Norte and has been the site of fierce fighting between government troops, backed by tribal militiamen and communist rebels in recent years.
Since July, about a dozen soldiers, rebels and tribesmen have been killed, and thousands of Ata-Manobo residents forced out of their communities due to the clashes, the authorities said.
Aside from the bodies of the slain rebels, government troops were able to recover weapons, ammunition and personal effects left behind by the retreating NPA guerrillas, said Capt. Ernest Carolina, public affairs officer of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.
Carolina said soldiers were pursuing the rebels.
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