NPA rebel, soldier killed in clashes

A New People’s Army (NPA) amazon and an Army soldier were killed in separate armed encounters on Monday, a military spokesperson said.

Lt. Xy-zon Meneses, spokesperson for the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, said a female NPA member was killed in Occidental Mindoro while a soldier was killed in another encounter in Quezon.

“The Army will continue to go after the rebels until they stop the terror acts they commit against the people,” said Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, 2nd Division chief.

Meneses said the first encounter happened at around 10 a.m. at Sitio Tagbungan, Barangay Barahan, in Sta. Cruz, Occidental Mindoro

He said members of the 76th Infantry Battalion fought around 30 armed NPA guerillas in Mindoro for about 30 minutes. The firefight left one female NPA member, identified as a certain Ka Bikke, dead.

Government troops also recovered one 9mm cal. pistol along with an improvised explosive device, Meneses said.

At around 11 a.m., government troops clashed with some 30 NPA rebels in Sitio Little Baguio, Barangay Magsaysay in Infanta, Quezon. —PHILIP C. TUBEZA