Troops capture ranking NPA rebel in Lanao Sur

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 11, 2023): Troops capture ranking NPA rebel in Lanao Sur (By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.)

CAPTURED REBEL. Government troops under the Army's 5th Infantry Battalion capture Emid Turay Pumarag, a New People's Army supply officer (right), during a combat operation in Barangay Rogero, Bubong town, Lanao del Sur province, on Monday (April 10, 2023). Pumarang yielded several high-powered firearms and documents of high intelligence value. (Photo courtesy of 1ID)

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Government troops have captured a ranking New People’s Army (NPA) rebel after seizing their hideout in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur province, the military said Tuesday.

The 1st Infantry Division (ID) said that Emid Turay Pumarag was captured after the Army's 5th Infantry Battalion (5IB) seized an NPA lair without resistance on Monday in Barangay Rogero, Bubong town, Lanao del Sur.

Pumarag, 35, was found alone inside the hideout. He is described as a supply officer for a rebel unit under the NPA's North Central Mindanao Regional Committee operating in Lanao del Sur.

He yielded three high-powered firearms consisting of an M16 and two Garand rifles with ammunition, bandoliers, a fragmentation grenade and documents of high intelligence value, the military said.

According to the 1ID, Pumarag and his comrades were involved in extorting the Maranao community in the area for revolutionary taxes and food supplies.

Pumarag was taken to the Amai Pakpak Medical Center in Marawi City for medical checkup and later transferred to the Army's 103rd Infantry Brigade headquarters for custodial debriefing and filing of appropriate criminal charges.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1199144