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ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 26 June) – Troops under the Philippine Army’s 97th Infantry (Kalasaglahi) Battalion killed a New People’s Army (NPA) rebel following a clash in Barangay Sunop, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur last Friday, an official said.
In a statement, Lt. Col. Nolasco Coderos Jr. said the soldiers were conducting combat operations when they chanced upon 10 NPA members under the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee (WMRPC), resulting to a firefight that lasted for about 30 minutes.
Two soldiers were wounded in the clash, he said.
Coderos identified the slain communist rebel as Jayman Taata, alias Rico, a member of the WMRPC, which is headed by an alias Bambam.
He said that troops recovered assorted war materials and personal belongings left by the fleeing rebels.
Coderos said the same NPA rebels clashed with government security forces on June 21 in Barangay Paraiso in nearby Mahayag town, which resulted to the wounding of a member of a Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit or CAFGU.
The official noted the troops have launched a relentless military operation against the NPA rebels that prompted the latter to hide in far-flung barangays bordering the towns of Sergio Osmeña in Zamboanga del Norte and Dumingag town.
On April 15, elements of the 97th IB and the communist rebels also clashed in Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte, which resulted in the death of an NPA fighter identified as alias “Roso”
On May 28, 2023, the 102nd Infantry (Igsoon) Brigade, with the help of Philippine Air Force’s Tactical Operations Group 9, conducted an air attack on an NPA hideout in the mountains bordering Sergio Osmeña and Dumingag, after the residents reported the presence of NPA rebels there, Col. Elmer Suderio, the brigade’s commander, said.
Maj. Gen. Antonio G. Nafarrete, Joint Task Force Zampelan and 1st Infantry Division commander, extended his full support for the operating forces’ vigilance and commitment to flush out the communist rebels. (Marivic Davis / MindaNews)
