TAGUM CITY – A suspected communist rebel was killed in a clash with government troops in Laak, Compostela Valley on Saturday, the military said.
A militiaman was also wounded following the 7 a.m. clash between suspected New People’s Army guerrillas and troops from the army’s 60th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Datu Ampunan, according to Maj. Michael Angelo Candole, the 60IB executive officer.
Candole said the incident happened as militiamen–led by a Corporal Agay – were conducting pursuit operation against a band of rebels allegedly behind the killing on Feb. 22 of an off-duty soldier in Asuncion, Davao del Norte, when they ran into another group of insurgents in the vicinity of Sitio Agsam. The firefight lasted for about 30 minutes, he said.
An M-14 rifle was also recovered along with the body of the slain rebel, Candole said, while the wounded militiaman was airlifted to a local hospital.
The body of the slain rebel, who remained unidentified, had been turned over to Laak officials, he said. CDG
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