Alleged NPA killed in Samar

May 14, 2020

An alleged New People's Army (NPA) member was killed in a clash with government  troops in Samar province on Wednesday morning.

Capt. Reynaldo Aragones Jr.,  public affairs chief of the 8th Infantry Division, said the troops of 46th Infantry Battalion encountered around five armed men at the vicinity of Barangay Layo, Pinabacdao municipality at 10:30 am.

Aragones said the government troops were responding to the reported presence of an armed group conducting extortion activities.

"After a 10-minute firefight, the rebels retreated leaving behind their dead comrade with one M16 rifle with attached M203 grenade launcher; one improvised explosive device (IED) approximately weighing five kilograms; one blasting cap; one bandolier with one long magazine for M16 rifle loaded with 10 rounds ammunition; two rounds of ammunition for M203 grenade launcher and ammunition for AK47," he said.

In his statement, Colonel Camilo Ligayo, 801st Brigade Commander said “this is a display of the intensified support of local communities to the government, denouncing the atrocities and activities of the rebel-terrorists."

"It is a tragedy that another rebel loses his life as a victim of this senseless armed struggle in an attempt to defend a futile ideology," he said.

"If they only considered the call to return to mainstream society, unnecessary deaths in encounters like this would have never occurred," he added. Robina Asido/DMS