4 soldiers injured in Escalante skirmish

From the Visayan Daily Star (Feb 23, 2024): 4 soldiers injured in Escalante skirmish (By GILBERT P. BAYORAN)

Four Army soldiers were injured in an encounter between remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front and 79th Infantry Battalion troopers on Wednesday at Sitio Mansulao, Brgy. Pinapugasan, Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

Lt. Col. Arnel Calaoagan, 79IB commander, however, said that the four injured Army soldiers are now in stable condition.

They got their injuries during the first encounter at about 11:10 a.m. of February 21 in the sitio, where unidentified three rebels were killed after about 30 minutes of gun battle, according to the 79IB.

Recovered from the first encounter site, aside from the cadavers of the three suspected NPA rebels, were an AK 47 assault rifle, an M653 automatic rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, three rifle grenades, an anti personnel mine, assorted cellular phones and commercial radios, combat backpacks, bandoleers, and subversive documents.

Calaoagan said the three slain rebels are believed to be remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front.

Pursuing Army troopers, who were tracking bloodstains along the rebels’ withdrawal route, encountered the fleeing NPA rebels at about 2pm on Wednesday, in the same barangay, where another firefight lasted about five minutes.

Another firefight between pursuing Army soldiers, and fleeing rebels also ensued on Thursday, in the hinterlands of Escalante City.

In the two ensuing encounters, no soldiers were injured, while there are still an undetermined number of casualties on the side of the fleeing rebels, according to the military.

Calaoagan said the three encounters have apparently shaken the surviving remnants of the dismantled guerilla front, who are trying to regain their lost territories in northern Negros.


In a statement, Mayor Melecio Yap Jr. strongly condemned the New People’s Army over the spate of violence in the hinterlands of Escalante City that has disturbed the livelihoods and endangered the lives of civilians.*

https://visayandailystar.com/4-soldiers-injured-in-escalante-skirmish/