TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte, Philippines – Five communist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in Bukidnon province on Tuesday, the military on Wednesday said.
An AK-47 assault rifle was also recovered by troops of the Army’s 1st Special Forces Battalion following the encounter in Barangay Mendis, Pangantucan town, around 4 p.m., said Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of the army’s 4th Infantry Division.
Martinez said soldiers were on combat patrol when they chanced upon an undetermined number of New People’s Army rebels, sparking a 30-minute firefight that left five insurgents dead.
“The encounter was in connection with the ongoing efforts to rescue a soldier who had been kidnapped by the NPA in Alagatan, Gingoong City (in Misamis Oriental) last July 11,” Martinez said by text
message.
That attack killed a soldier and wounded two civilians.
Apart from the soldier, NPA rebels are also holding three tribal chieftains who were allegedly abducted in the mountains bordering Bukidnon and Davao del Norte provinces early this month.
He said a pursuit operation was conducted against the fleeing rebels while personnel of the police Scene of the Crime Operation were at the scene to investigate. Friston L. Lim, Inquirer Mindanao