THE Army's 15th Infantry (Molave Warrior) Battalion reported to have overran a New People's Army (NPA) lair at the vicinity of Sitio Calagmakan, Barangay Camindangan, Sipalay City, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, July 21.

The recovery of the NPA lair happened after the troops encountered more or less 20 members of platoon 2, Sentro de Grabidad (SDG), South West Front (SWF) of the communist-terrorist group, the Army report said.

The encounter lasted for about 15 minutes. After which, the communist-terrorists withdrew towards the different directions.

As a result, the Army claimed the rebels have casualties as manifested by the bloodstains in the encounter site.

Aside from the lair, the government troopers also recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) generator set, subversive documents, binoculars, BP Apparatus, map of Negros province, printer, office supplies, gasoline, teaching materials, electrical wires, foodstuffs and cooking utensils, and rebels personal belongings.

The said lair could accommodate more or less 60 communist rebels.

Lieutenant Colonel Erwin Cariño, commanding officer of 15IB, assured the people that the 15IB will not allow the CPP-NPA Terrorist to move to other locations and abuse innocent and vulnerable civilians.

"We will continue to track and engage these fleeing terrorists to put an end to their decades-long cruelty," Carino said.

He once again expressed his gratitude to the civilian populace for their support to the troops by giving information that led to the successful capture of the communist-terrorists' lair.

"Their cooperation is a manifestation of the growing mass resistance and abdication on the presence and influence of the NPA Terrorist group," he said.

Cariño added: "We will continue to conduct focused military operations, and with the support of the locals in the area, more NPA Lairs are expected to be seized and cleared in the coming days."

For his part, Colonel Noel Baluyan, commander of the 302nd Infantry (Achiever) Brigade, said: "It is immensely commendable that in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic, the populace continued their support by providing reliable information that led to the seizure of the communist-terrorists' lair, and prevented them to cast atrocities. This manifests their awareness on how we can attain and sustain peace through collaborative efforts. Their vigilance coupled with the dedication of our soldiers in putting the local Communist armed conflict to its end will be an edge to our mission. Nevertheless, we will continue to pursue our tasks to counter the enemies while ensuring safety and security during this health crisis."