2 NPA rebels, militiaman killed in Agusan Sur firefight

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 24): 2 NPA rebels, militiaman killed in Agusan Sur firefight

Two New People’s Army (NPA) rebels and a militiaman were killed as fresh fighting erupted anew in Agusan del Sur Thursday afternoon, a belated military report reaching here said Friday.

“We acted upon the report that a group of armed NPAs were (conducting) extortion activities in the said community," Lt. Col. Rommel Pagayon, commanding officer of the Army’s 26 Infantry Battalion in Agusan Del Sur, said.

He said that the encounter took place in Bunucayan, an outskirt village in the municipality of Loreto, Agusan Del Sur.

According to Pagayon, the NPA rebels indiscriminately fired on the government troopers despite the presence of the civilians in the village, which resulted in a 30-minute running gun battle.

He said that two unidentified NPA rebels were killed, their firearms recovered along the rebel’s escape route.

Pagayon did not name the slain CAFGU member pending notification to his family.

He said the government troops also recovered subversive documents and personal belongings at the scene of the encounter.

Pagayaon said that the military is offering medical assistance to the wounded NPA rebels who were reportedly carried by their comrades on their withdrawal route.

 http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=974651