Three NPA rebels killed in Iloilo clash with Army

THREE suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members were killed as army ground troops overran a temporary encampment of rebels following a clash in San Joaquin town in Iloilo province at dawn on Wednesday.

Capt. Roel Maglalang, chief civil military operations, said the three still unidentified rebels were killed in a fight involving 20 members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA Southern Panay Front and soldiers belonging to the Philippine

Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade in Barangay Torocadan, San Joaquin, at about 3:20 a.m. on Wednesday.

Maglalang said the three dead NPA rebels were part of a smaller group that fled from a military hot pursuit. It regrouped later and established a temporary shelter somewhere in the ridges of Barangay Leon.

However, pursuing soldiers monitored the movement of the evading rebels. They were about to hold a meeting to formulate combat plans when they were greeted with successive gun bursts.

As the two sides exchanged fire, army soldiers who were in a disadvantageous position radioed for reinforcement to flush out the rebels.

Maglalang said after 20 minutes of fighting, the terrorist group retreated, leaving behind their dead comrades.

He said the rebel group was under Nahum Camariosa alias Bebong, who also figured in an encounter with army troops recently.

Soldiers conducted hot pursuit operations.

The encounter resulted in the recovery of five high-powered firearms; four M16 rifles; one Russian-made AK47 rifle; three bandoliers; one radio communications; and nine backpacks.

He said the escaping rebels suffered critical wounds as soldiers found blood along their route of withdrawal.