Reds kill 2 soldiers, wound 3, including officer, in Ifugao firefight

From InterAksyon (Oct 15): Reds kill 2 soldiers, wound 3, including officer, in Ifugao firefight

Two soldiers were killed and three others, including an officer, were wounded in a clash with New People’s Army guerrillas in Ifugao province on Tuesday.

The military also claimed to have killed one of the rebels although residents of Sitio Daclan, Barangay Camandag in Asipulo town, including the victim’s family, said the fatality was a civilian who had been caught in the crossfire.

Reports that more than 50 guerrillas were involved in the half-hour gunbattle against the patrolling troops of the 54th Infantry Battalion, commanded by the wounded 1st Lieutenant Roland Carinan, belied an earlier pronouncement of Armed Forces chief of staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. that the NPA in Ifugao had been crippled and rendered “inconsequential,” making security in the province ready for handover to the local police.

In fact, Catapang had ordered the transfer of at least seven battalions, or roughly 3,500 troops, of the Army's 5th Infantry Division, whose operational area covers Northern Luzon, to Mindanao because NPA influence in the region had weakened.

The slain soldiers were identified as Privates First Class Mark Anthony Patdu and James Enale.

Aside from Carinan, also wounded were PFCs Raffy Anungus and Jhonryl Discaya.

The rebels, who belong to the NPA’s Nona Del Rosario Command, retreated only after the Air Force provided air support for the beleaguered troops.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/97303/reds-kill-2-soldiers-wound-3-including-officer-in-ifugao-firefight