ZAMBOANGA CITY – A New People’s Army (NPA) rebel was killed while two soldiers were wounded in a clash in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur province, the military said Thursday.
The Philippine Army’s 1st Infantry Division (ID) said the 2nd Special Forces Company was on combat operation when its personnel encountered 15 fully armed NPA rebels at Barangay Rogero in Bubong town, Lanao del Sur on Wednesday.
The 1ID said the 15-minute firefight resulted in the death of an NPA rebel.
The rebels fled following the clash, leaving behind their slain comrade.
Recovered at the clash site was an M16 rifle, 300 rounds of 7.62-mm ammunition, five mobile phones, five backpacks, subversive documents, and medicines.
On Monday, troopers from the Army’s 5th Infantry Battalion captured a ranking NPA rebel after seizing their hideout also in Barangay Rogero.
Captured was Emid Turay Pumarag, 35, the supply officer of a rebel unit under the NPA's North Central Mindanao Regional Committee operating in the province.
Basilan outpost attack
Meanwhile, a policeman was injured when gunmen attacked a police outpost in Tipo-Tipo town, Basilan province on Wednesday night.
The Basilan Provincial Police Office (BPPO) said Corporal Nasser Jain was wounded when a group of still unidentified gunmen attacked the outpost in Barangay Tipo-Tipo Proper of the municipality around 8:55 p.m.
Jain is assigned to the 3rd Mobile Platoon of the 1st Basilan Provincial Mobile Force Company.
“The armed men swooped down on Tipo-Tipo Proper and opened fire at the police outpost, with a bullet grazing Jain in the head,” the BPPO said.
Jain was brought to the district hospital in Lamitan City for medical treatment. (PNA)
