451 displaced due to North Cotabato clash

MANILA -- Hundreds of residents in a North Cotabato village have been displaced by an armed conflict between government troops and suspected communist rebels, the state disaster agency reported Wednesday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said a total of 86 families or 451 people in Barangay Cabilao, Makilala town have been affected by the incident.

The agency said some of the affected residents chose to stay with their relatives and have not yet returned to their houses as they are still waiting for the advice of the military.

The displaced families have received food packs and medicines from the local disaster agency in Makilala, the NDRRMC said.

The armed conflict transpired on January 22 between elements of the military's 57th Infantry Battalion and suspected New People's Army members.

The said encounter was among the few incidents last week that involved suspected NPA members.

On January 23, three suspected NPA rebels were killed in a clash with military troops in Zamboanga del Sur, wherein eight soldiers were also hurt.

The following day, elements from the 31st Infantry Battalion clashed with at least seven members of the Special Partisan Unit of the NPA. Two rebels were killed while two soldiers were wounded.

On Sunday, suspected NPA members also staged an ambush in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, killing a policeman and eight civilians and eight others. (Emmanuel Louis Bacani/Sunnex)