A NEW People’s Army (NPA) leader in Mindanao was killed after a firefight with government troops in Palimbang town in Sultan Kudarat last Sunday night, the military reported.
The Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) named the slain rebel official as Joseph Longan, alias Michael, the commanding officer of the NPA’s Beijing Platoon who is described as a “high-value target.”
Troops from the Army’s 37th Infantry Battalion (IB) were conducting a combat operation in Sitio Kalogkog, Barangay Badiangon in Palimbang town when they clashed with Longan and his men.
“We intensified our operations against the communist terrorists due to incidents of recruitment of high school students by the CTGs (communist terrorist groups) in our area,” said 37th IB commander Lt. Col. John Paul Baldomar.
