A NEW People’s Army Rebel was confirmed killed while three soldiers were wounded in a clash in the province of Zamboanga del Sur, the police said Saturday.
The firefight took place days after President Rodrigo Duterte has stopped all peace negotiations with the NPA due to the continued atrocities committed by the rebel group.
The Police Regional Office-Zamboanga Peninsula reported that the clash occurred around 11:10 a.m. Friday in Mount Ganaan in the village of Gasa, Lakewood municipality.
The police said the troops from the Charlie Company of the Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion were on patrol when they clash with more or less 30 NPA rebels.
The NPA rebels that figured in the clash with the troops belong to the section committee Kara of the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee (WMRPC).
The firefight lasted for 10 minutes that resulted to the death of an NPA follower and three soldiers injured.
The troops have recovered from the clash site the remains of the slain rebel and four rifle grenades, and ammunition for M-16 Armalite and AK-47 rifle.
The wounded soldiers were safely extricated from the clash site. (SunStar Philippines)