4 soldiers hurt in clash with Cagayan rebs

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – Four government troopers were wounded in an encounter with New People’s Army rebels in Cagayan’s northern Gattaran town Wednesday morning.

The Army said members of the 17th Infantry Battalion encountered the communist rebels in remote Sitio Alindayag, Barangay Elizaga, triggering the clash.

Citing residents’ accounts, the Army said the NPA guerrillas, led by one Rolando Ibis, were conducting extortion and campaign activities for the May elections when the government security forces chanced upon them in the area. – Charlie Lagasca