3 communist rebels dead, 4 soldiers wounded in Negros Occidental clashes — Army

The Philippine Army on Thursday said three members of a Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) were killed while four soldiers were wounded in a series of clashes in Negros Occidental.

In a statement from the PA’s 3rd Infantry Division, the first encounter occurred at around 11 a.m. on February 21 in Sitio Mansulao, Barangay Pinapugasan, in Escalante City.

The 30-minute engagement transpired when troops from the 79th Infantry Battalion were conducting combat operations in response to reports from locals that armed remnants of the recently disbanded Northern Negros Front (NNF) were allegedly extorting money from residents in the area.

"While conducting a pursuit operation, the troops encountered the same group at about 2:00 p.m. in the same place. The firefight lasted for about 5 minutes," the Army said.

At around 6 a.m. on Thursday, soldiers once came upon the armed group which it engaged in a five-minute gun battle.

"The series of encounters indicate that the group are still in the area and may have been protecting their wounded comrades as bloodstains were found at the encounter site and on their route of withdrawal," said Lieutenant Colonel J-Jay Javines, chief of the 3ID Public Affairs Office.

Soldiers discovered three bodies of suspected insurgents, two men and a woman. Also recovered were as an M653 carine, an AK47 assault rfile, and a .45 caliber pistol.

Casualties on the government side were four soldiers, including a CAFGU Active Auxiliary, who were slightly wounded. All are now in stable condition after receiving medical treatment at the nearest hospital.

"Negrenses have embraced a heightened sense of vigilance, actively contributing valuable information to our operating troops, instrumental in identifying and neutralising the remnants of the CTG in Negros,” said 3ID Commander Major General Marion R. Sison.

Sison reiterated his call for remaining CTG members to surrender and avail themselves of the government’s Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).—RF, GMA Integrated News