3 NPA KILLED, 3 HIGH POWERED FIREARMS RECOVERED AND 3 SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN AN ENCOUNTER
By JONG
CADION
PAGADIAN CITY – Three
members of the New people’s Army (NPA) were killed, and 3 high powered firearms
were recovered by the government troops while 3 members of 14th Scout
Ranger Company (14SRC) were wounded during the encounter recently at Sitio
Maimbong, Brgy. Mati in the municipality of Tigbao, Zamboanga del Sur at about
2:45pm Wednesday, January 23, 2013.
The troops of the 4th
Scout Ranger Battalion (4SRBN) under operational control of 102nd Infantry
Brigade were on patrol when they chanced upon and engaged more or less eighty (80)
NPAs at Sitio Maimbong, Brgy. Mati of said municipality, Col Gerardo Barrientos
Jr, the Commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade in his report to the
headquarters of the 1st Infantry (Tabak) Division.
The rebel group is believed
to be with the Section Committee Kara and the Main Regional Guerilla Unit which
are both under the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee under AKA Natan
and AKA Elyong, Col. Barrientos said.
The encounter
lasted for about one hour and 20 minutes that resulted to the wounding of three
(3) soldiers while three (3) local communist terrorist were killed.
Recovered from the
dead body of the local communist terrorists were one AK 47, M14 and M1 Garand rifles
and other personal belongings left by them as they flee from the soldiers.
The Commander of
the 1st Infantry Division, Major Gen Ricardo Rainier Cruz III directed
the military commanders in the area to attend for the needs of the wounded
soldiers and likewise secure the safety of the civilians at the affected area.
Further, he said that the encounter was the result of the cooperation of
civilians in the province of Zamboanga del Sur. Nevertheless, he called on the
NPAs in the area to abandon their armed struggle and help in good governance to
give peace and progress a chance in this part of Mindanao.
The encounter was also
the result of pursuit operations conducted by the military following the NPA
attacked of 5th CAFGU Detachment at Purok 5 in Brgy. Dumalian, San
Miguel, Zamboanga del Sur on January 21, 2013 at 11:30 in the evening.
As of this report, the
102nd Brigade deployed more troops to pursue the NPAs and to bring the wounded
soldier to the nearest hospital in Pagadian City.
