Two NPA fighters killed in raid by government troops in Quezon province

By Ronron
March 4, 2008

After being on the receiving end in the last three days, government troops scored against the New People’s Army (NPA) on Tuesday when they raided some guerillas in Quezon province, killing two.

Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command spokesman Maj. Randolph Cabangbang said the incident happened at around 5am yesterday at Barangay Mamala Uno in Sariaya town.

Cabangbang said elements of the 740th Combat Group of the Philippine Air Force, led by 1Lt. Sangjan Panding, conducted the surprise raid against some 20 NPA members believed to be under the command of guerilla leader Tirso Alcantara.

“The NPA’s were on an extortion mission in the area. They have frequented the businessmen there for quite a long time already, so one of the businessmen there cooperated this time with the military,” Cabangbang said in Filipino.

The successful operation came after government forces were attacked in various ways by communist rebels in Davao City on Saturday, in Surigao del Sur on Sunday, and in Samar on Monday.

Cabangbang said that aside from killing two rebels, the government troops also recovered two M16 rifles and what he calls as “valuable enemy documents.”

He disclosed that the body of the first fatality was recovered immediately after the raid, while the second one was discovered at around 12:25 pm some 500 meters away from the raid site.

“He was initially wounded but was abandoned and left to die by his group to evade pursuing government troops,” Cabangbang said of the second NPA fatality.

Cabangbang said Philippine Army 202nd Brigade Commander Brig. Gen. Jorge Segovia, where the 740th Combat Group of the Air Force is attached, believes that they were able to foil a planned atrocity by the NPA group.

Pursuit operations, aided by helicopter gunships, were conducted against the NPA elements who managed to escape, said Cabangbang.

The 5,760-strong NPA has been waging guerilla warfare in the countryside for almost four decades now, and which the government intends to put to a stop by 2010 when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ends her term.

Peace talks between the communist movement and the government bogged down in August 2004 after the former and its leaders were tagged as terrorists by some foreign governments./DMS