SIX New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed after a clash with government troops who assaulted a rebel hideout in Las Navas town in Northern Samar yesterday morning.
Capt. Ryan Layug, spokesman of the military’s Joint Task Force Storm and of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said the operation also resulted in the recovery of 16 firearms.
Troops from the Joint Task Force Storm attacked the NPA hideout in the hinterlands of Barangay Imelda early morning yesterday, based on information from residents.
Layug said the rebels are from Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee.
“The terrorist position was heavily fortified as strong resistance met government troops enroute to the hideouts. These triggered the request for close air support and artillery fires,” said Layug.
After the firefight, troops recovered at the encounter site the bodies of six NPA rebels, including a female, and 16 assorted firearms.
Layug said the rebel group was involved in the attack on a community in Barangay Dorillo, Jipapad town in Eastern Samar last October 7. Two soldiers died and two other soldiers and a 10-year-old girl were wounded in the incident.
Joint Task Force Storm and 8th Infantry Division commander Maj. Camilo Ligayo implied the rebels would have not died if they heeded earlier military calls for them to surrender.
“We have been calling them to go home to their families, but this group stands by their twisted ideology that killed tens of thousands of Filipinos for their almost 54 years of existence,” said Ligayo.
