TROOPS from the Army’s 10th Infantry Battalion have clashed with some 40 New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in the hinterlands of Zamboanga del Norte, a top military official said Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Leonel Nicolas, commander of the 10th Infantry Battalion, said the clash broke out around 9 a.m. Friday in the boundaries of Sta. Maria and Morob village in the municipality of Leon Postigo, Zamboanga del Norte.

Nicolas said the firefight broke out when his personnel spotted the NPA rebels in the area.

The NPA rebels fled after the troops outmaneuvered them and upon sensing the arrival of reinforcement.

He said the troops have recovered assorted propaganda paraphernalia, subversive documents of high intelligence value and personal belongings abandoned by the NPA rebels.

He said no one among the troops were either killed or wounded, while the NPA rebels were believed to have suffered casualties as bloodstains were visible in their withdrawal path.