CLARK FREEPORT — Three soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in yet another armed clash with New People’s Army (NPA) guerillas Sunday afternoon in Sitio Dandanac, Barangay Tamboan in Besao in the Mountain Province, the Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) reported yesterday.
Nolcom chief information officer Lt. Col. Nicolas Nato said the firefight started at about 2:58 p.m. and lasted up to 6 p.m. during operations of the 81st Infantry Battalion (81IB) of the Joint Task Force “Kaugnay” in Sitio Dandanac. The number of the NPA guerillas was not immediately known, but they were believed to be members of Kilusang Larangang Gerilya AMPIS under one alias Digbay.
“The intense firefight resulted to the death of three and wounding of two soldiers on the government side, while there were undetermined casualties on the enemy side,” Nato said. The soldiers were not immediately identifi ed pending notification of their families.
He also reported that the soldiers also lost K3 squad automatic weapon, two R4 rifles, an M203 grenade launcher attached to one of the rifles and a Harris handheld radio which were carted off by the rebels.
“Reinforcements were sent immediately in the encounter site and casualty evacuation was conducted on the wounded and slain heroes in the incident. Pursuit operations was launched against the withdrawing NPAs,” Nato said.
He recalled that last Saturday, government troopers from the 81IB also clashed with the NPA in the same vicinity.
Also last Saturday, a doctor who had served as medical officer and underground organizer of the NPA’s Kilusang Larangang Gerilya under the Ilocos-Cordillera Regional Committee voluntarily surrendered to the 54th Infantry Battalion (54IB) and intelligence units under the Joint Task Force “Tala,” Nato said.
He did not name the name of the medical officer for security reasons.
Nolcom also cited belated reports that two days earlier, one it named only as Sagana, 24, and Alvin Santiago,20, both farmers and residents of Barangay Malibang in Pudtol, Apayao voluntarily surrendered without firearms to the Joint elements of Pudtol Municipal Police Station and 17th Infantry Battalion under Joint Task Force “Tala.”
