Monday, August 04, 2008 Army, rebel clash in Agusan Sur By Annabelle L. Ricalde
ARMY soldiers clash with communist rebels for 15 minutes in a hinterland village in Agusan del Sur Sunday, the military said.
Major Michelle Anayron, spokesperson of the Army 4th Infantry Division, said the New People's Army (NPA) rebels withdraw in the clash leaving one M16 and a M2 carbine in Sitio Sampao, Barangay Odiong, Esperanza town in Agusan del Sur.
Anayron said bloodstains were also found along the route taken by withdrawing rebels indicating that some of them may have been wounded in the firefight.
The clash came after troops from 30th Infantry Battalion (30IB) and the 26th Infantry Battalion (26IB) launched an operation against the rebels after receiving a tip from residents.
Anayron said the troops were after a "high-value target," a term used by the military for top ranking communist leaders. He, however, declined to give the identity of the rebel leader the soldiers were after.
"It was not a chance encounter but a special operation. The operation was deliberate," Anayron told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
Anayron said the troopers recovered some documents and backpacks believed to have been left behind by the withdrawing rebels.
The NPA has been fighting the government since 1969, one of Asia's longest running communist insurgencies. (ALR)
