From the Manila Bulletin (Nov 30): AFP-NPA skirmishes erupt in Zapanta Valley
Camp Bancasi, Butuan City – An Army soldier was wounded while an undetermined number of New People’s Army (NPA) combatants were reportedly hurt or killed in two skirmishes Sunday in the mountain villages of San Isidro and Canaway in Kitcharao town, Zapanta Valley, Agusan del Norte, the military said yesterday.
According to the advance command post (ACP) of the Fourth Infantry Division (4th ID), elements of 29th Infantry Battalion (29th IB), led by 2nd Lt. Beljum Ray O. Tulod, were conducting security operations and implementing peace and development program when they were engaged by the NPA.
As a result of the gun battles, an Army soldier, whose identity was withheld, was wounded while several NPAs may have also been hurt or killed, as evidenced by the blood trail they left while escaping northeast of the encounter sites.
Troops under Lt. Col. Ariel Orio of the 29th IB were still pursuing the rebels who reportedly belong to the guerilla-Front Committee 16-A of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NMRC).
Combat pilots of the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) strike wing of Tactical Operations Group (TOG) have also been placed on standby alert at Camp Bancasi here for possible air support for the pursuing ground troops.
Special forces, including regional and provincial mobile forces of the Police Regional Office 13 (PRO 13), were also mobilized to man blocking positions on the possible escape route of the fleeing rebels.
Meanwhile, field units of the area command of the 4th ID in Northeastern and Northern Mindanao are being alerted for possible terroristic activities by the NPAs during the celebration of the Yuletide Season, particularly the anniversary of the CPP-NPA on Dec. 26, 2015.
“All our field units were already alerted by our 4th ID chief Maj. Gen. Oscar T. Lactao to redouble their defense security plan in their respective headquarters and round-the-clock security patrol, especially in those soft targets by the NPAs,” 4th ID spokesman Capt. Joe Patrick A. Martinez told Manila Bulletin yesterday.
http://www.mb.com.ph/afp-npa-skirmishes-erupt-in-zapanta-valley/
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