Army troops kill 5 NPAs in Cagayan gunfight

By Villamor Visaya, Jr.

TUGUEGARAO CITY – Army soldiers on Wednesday found five bodies of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, who were believed killed in a gunfight on Tuesday here in Barangay Dungeg, Sta. Teresita, Cagayan.
    Army Maj. Jekyll Dulawan, 5th Infantry Division (5ID) spokesperson, said aside from the bodies, the soldiers also found and recovered three high-powered firearms, three anti-personnel mines, five handheld radios, four mobile phones, assorted medical supplies and equipment, anti-government documents and personal belongings.
    He said soldiers uncovered a rebel hideout where anti-personnel mines were manufactured by the NPA-Komiteng Rehiyon-Cagayan Valley after Tuesday's firefight.
    The Army did not suffer any casualties in the firefight against some 40 communist rebels.
“    The accurate information provided by the locals and the timely, precise and well-coordinated actions of the ground troops and the Philippine Air Force led to this decisive engagement against the NPAs without any casualties on the government forces and the civilians,” Dulawan told the Philippine News Agency in a phone interview.
    Maj. Gen. Laurence Mina, 5ID commander, said the division remains steadfast in working with the people and the local government units in ensuring peace and development in its area of responsibility.
    On Tuesday morning, troops under the 501st Brigade conducted an operation in the hinterlands of Dungeg, following reports that rebels had established a lair there and were using it as a facility for making improvised bombs.
    Intermittent firefight with about 40 rebels ensued for about two hours, then air and artillery fire were delivered.
    The rebels are believed to be members of the East Front of Komiteng Probinsiya Cagayan under the Komiteng Rehiyon-Cagayan Valley.