Army: 4 NPA rebels dead in new Himamaylan, Negros Occidental clashes

From Rappler (Mar 2, 20223): Army: 4 NPA rebels dead in new Himamaylan, Negros Occidental clashes (By INDAY ESPINA-VARONA)

Three clashes starting early Wednesday morning lead to the seizure of powerful firearms and ammunition

BACOLOD, Philippines – Four suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) died on Wednesday, March 1 during a series of clashes with the 94th Infantry Battalion in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, police and military officials said.

Himamaylan police chief, Lieutenant Colonel Reynante Jomocan said the clash happened in Barangay Carabalan, one of the sites of battles between Army troops and communist guerrillas from October 6 to 10, 2022.

In a separate statement, the 94th Infantry Battalion said the firefight also left one soldier wounded and displaced 81 families or 355 individuals.

The October encounters affected 13,000 individuals, displacing more than 5,000 and prompting officials of the third-class component city to declare a state of emergency.

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By the time military operations concluded and the last 600 residents of the most affected hamlets were allowed to go back home, fighting had affected 18,000 residents, and caused the deaths of two soldiers and one ranking NPA leader.
Series of clashes

The 94 IB did not release the name of the injured soldier who was taken to a Bacolod City hospital. It said 303rd Infantry Brigade Commander, Colonel Orlando Edralin visited him at the hospital with a Wounded Personnel Medal.

The 303 IB based in Camp Gerona, Brgy Minoyan, Murcia town said the encounters started early morning. The 20-minute gunfight ended with three rebels dead, the army said in a statement.

“It was followed by two other encounters in the area that left another NPA dead with several others wounded being carried by their comrades as evidence of several bloodstains in their route of withdrawal,” the 303 IB statement said.

Government troops were able to seize two M16 rifles with M203 attached, two AK47s, four M203 GL ammunition, four bandoliers, one hand grenade, two long M16 magazines, two short M16 magazines short, six AK47 magazines, one unserviceable AK47 magazine , one compass, two flashlights, nine backpacks, assorted ammunitions, medicine, foodstuff and subversive documents, the unit added.

 

FOOD SUPPLIES. Himamaylan Mayor Raymundo Tongson reassures 81 families displaced by fighting between government troops and communist rebels on March 1, 2023 that they will have ample food supply while taking shelter in the multi-purpose hall of Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan, Negros Occidental. Ramund Tongson Facebook page

On the same day, the Leonardo Panaligan Command of the NPA’s Central Negros Guerrilla Front also issued a statement saying the 62nd IB were operating in the tri-boundary of Binalbagan, Isabela, Negros Occidental, and La Libertad, Negros Oriental.

The statement said around 300 government troops have been operating since February 26 and drones fly regularly almost by the hour.

The rebel command claimed the military had stationed its forces in people’s homes, the community church and the barangay hall.

Himamaylan Mayor Raymundo Tongson, Carabalan barangay captain Mildred Titular, and the city social welfare and development office (CSWD) gathered the evacuees in the community’s multi-purpose hall, providing family food packs and sleeping material.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/visayas/npa-rebels-dead-new-himamaylan-clashes-march-2023/