Army braces for NPA retaliatory attacks in NoCot

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 7): Army braces for NPA retaliatory attacks in NoCot

The Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion is bracing for retaliatory offensive from communist New Peoples’ Army in North Cotabato after the military overran a rebel training camp in a remote village here, an Army official said Tuesday.

Lt. Colonel Harold Argamoza, 39th IB chief, said the Army is winning the war in the countrysides due to peoples’ support to government forces.

He added the Army is prepared for retaliatory attacks from the rebels. He cited the case at Sitio Mahayag, Barangay Bulatukan, Makilala, where soldiers and rebels clashed after residents reported the massing of Red fighters in the area on Sunday night.

Argamoza said a team of soldiers went to the village to verify and validate the information but as they approached sitio Mahayag, they were ambushed by about 40 armed men that triggered an hour-long firefight.

The fighting ceased when the rebels fled deep into the forest, located at the foot of Mt. Apo, the country’s highest peak.

After clearing operations, the soldiers found a rebel training camp that can accommodate at least 50 people.

“There were recruitment activities, there was training happening in the camp at the time of the clash,” Argamoza told reporters.

He could not say though whether the rebels who belong to NPA Guerilla Front 51 suffered casualties, as there were no slain or wounded insurgents captured.

Soldiers recovered two rifles, ammunition, training kits and bags left by the fleeing rebels.

Argamoza lauded the support extended by the local residents who became victims of extortion by communist rebels and also suffered the pain of leaving homes every time the fighting erupted.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1015099