Army: Two NPA insurgents killed in Samar clash

From GMA News (May 3): Army: Two NPA insurgents killed in Samar clash

Two New People’s Army guerrillas allegedly involved in extortion activities were killed in a clash with government troops in Samar on Thursday, an army official said Friday.

After the 15-minute firefight, "residents in Catbalogan City's Barangay Alabate confirmed the two fatalities were among a group of rebels who extort money from local candidates and believed to be on their way to Catbalogan City," said Capt. Amado Gutierrez, spokesman for the Army’s 8th Infantry Division.

Citing initial information, Gutierrez said the clash occurred in Alabate at about 1:35 p.m. on May 2, when troops belonging to the 87th Infantry Battalion chanced upon five armed rebels.

Government troops recovered from the scene the bodies of the two still unidentified rebels, an M16 rifle, an M653 rifle, a fragmentation grenade, and a backpack with personal belongings, Gutierrez said.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Gerardo Layug, 8th ID commander, said the troops “spoiled the plan of the rebels to extort money from local candidates in Catbalogan.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/306662/news/regions/army-two-npa-insurgents-killed-in-samar-clash