A 79th Infantry Battalion soldier was killed in an encounter with remnants of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay Tamlang, Escalante City, Negros Occidental, at 2:10 p.m. on Monday, June 1.
The 79th IB troops encountered the “Communist terrorists responsible for the killing of civilians in Northern Negros”, Lt. Col. Eric Alfonso, 79th IB commander, said.
Alfonso said “the 79th IB was monitoring the area in response to intelligence reports indicating that the communist terrorists were targeting more civilians”.
The 79th IB soldiers engaged about five remnants of the NPA Northern Negros Front in a firefight that lasted 10 minutes, 1st Lt. Fevie Fajardo, the 79th IB civil-military operations officer, said.
On Monday night the Army was still conducting hot pursuit operations against the rebels, who withdrew following the encounter, she added.
“These communist terrorists were responsible for the recent killing of two civilians in Calatrava on May 5 and 14,” Fajardo said.
“Just recently, we received information that they were planning further atrocities in Escalante. That’s why 79th IB personnel were deployed for combat operations, which resulted in the encounter on Monday”, she said.
Meanwhile, an alleged member of the communist terrorist group was arrested with a .45 caliber pistol at an Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police checkpoint in Barangay Mabini, Escalante City, at 4 p.m. on Monday, Fajardo said.
The suspect had allegedly come from Barangay Tamlang, Escalante, she said.*
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