2 NPA terrorsists killed in Surigao del Norte clash – military

Two Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army gunmen were killed in a clash with government troops in Bacuag, Surigao del Norte, the military announced on Saturday.

According to the Philippine Army 30th Infantry Battalion (30IB) soldiers were on a security operation in Sitio Little Baguio, Barangay Payapag when they encountered  some 30 fully-armed gunmen at around 4 a.m.

The firefight lasted an hour and 30 minutes, after which the communist fighters ran off in different directions.

The corpses of a female and male gunmen, both of whom were believed to be in their 20s, were found in the scene.

There were no casualties on the government side.

The 30IB also overran an NPA lair, which could accommodate 50 people, and recovered several an AK-47 assault rifle, an M16 assault rifle, a landmine with one hundred meters electrical wire, three M16 magazines, ten AK-47 magazines,  medicines, personal belongings, and "subversive" documents.

The military established that the NPA unit th 30IB had encountered was the Guerilla Front 16 of the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Command, which was led by a certain Alias JD/Bern.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the two dead NPA fighters were brought to the Bacuag Funeral Homes.

They were turned over to barangay officials and Philippine National Police investigators for proper disposition and identification.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the dead NPA terrorists. It is tragic that up to this moment, there are still people who are blinded by the failed ideology of these terrorists," said 30IB commander Lieutenant Colonel Allen Raymund Tomas.

"We have coordinated with the local government unit and our PNP counterparts to help us find their families and ensure that proper burial will be given." — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News