Police: Soldiers clash with NPA rebels in Surigao Norte

BUTUAN CITY — Soldiers clashed with around 10 heavily armed men suspected to be New People's Army rebels at Sitio Pug-al, Barangay Caman-onan in Gigaquit town in Surigao del Norte Wednesday, but no casualty was reported, a belated police report said Thursday. Caraga Police regional information office said elements from the Philippine Army's 30th Infantry Battalion were conducting combat patrol operation when they spotted the armed group at the boundary of the municipalities of Gigaquit and Claver. According to the report, the encounter lasted for around ten minutes and no casualty was reported in the incident. Also, it said the following items were recovered at the encounter site:

1. Seven (7) magazines of AK 47 rifle each loaded with thirty (30) rounds of ammunitions; 2. Two (2) rolls of detonating cord; 3. One (1) ICOM Radio with spare battery; 4. Ten (10) pcs dry cell battery; 5. One (1) backpack containing assorted medicines; 6. Three (3) backpacks containing personal belongings; and 7. Subversive documents.

Recovered items are being custodied by the Philippine Army for proper disposition, the report claimed. The site of the encounter is just a few kilometers away from Barangay Urbiztondo in Claver, where some 200 NPA rebels attacked and burned a mining firms’ dump trucks and heavy equipment last October 3. — Ben Serrano/LBG, GMA News