FOUR soldiers and two suspected communist rebels were killed in a series of encounters in Compostela Valley province on Thursday and Friday.
Twelve other soldiers were wounded and three rebels were arrested in the same incidents.
The first encounter took place on Km. 65 in Barangay Rizal in Monkayo town at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, when the Philippine Army’s 25th Infantry Battalion were in pursuit operation against the rebels.
Army's 10th Infantry Division spokesperson Captain Rhyan Batchar said troops were looking for the rebels who were believed to have suffered several casualties during an earlier encounter in the area.
Batchar said two soldiers were wounded during the firefight that lasted for about 15 minutes. He added that the two were immediately lifted at Camp Panacan Station Hospital, Davao City after the encounter.
Meanwhile, three soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in another encounter with at least 60 rebels in the same town at around 7:50 a.m. Friday. The firefight lasted for about 45 minutes.
Batchar said the rebels took the rifles and personal belongings of the three dead soldiers then fled to far flung areas, while three rebels were arrested and an unidentified dead female rebel was recovered.
"The three NPA (New People’s Army) members arrested after the encounter were then turned over to the members of the PNP (Philippine National Police) in Monkayo for proper disposition," Batchar said.
Another encounter took place in Barangay Parasanon in Maragusan town at 1 p.m. wherein the Army’s 71st Infantry Battalion encountered about 30 NPA rebels. One soldier and one rebel were then died.
Batchar said the 1001st Infantry Brigade, which has the operational control over the 25th Infantry Battalion and 71st Infantry Battalion ordered the conduct of pursuit operations against the fleeing rebels.
10th Infantry Division commander Major General Rafael Valencia, Batchar said, in behalf of the members of the 10th ID, expressed his condolence to the families of the dead soldiers.