4 NPA rebels killed in Sultan Kudarat encounter
SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines — Soldiers shot dead four communist rebels and arrested another in an encounter Thursday in a hinterland in Senator Ninoy Aquino town in the province.
A soldier who was slightly wounded in the ensuing encounter is now recuperating at a hospital.
Col. Melquiades Feliciano, commander of the Army’s 601st Brigade, said the encounter in Barangay Nati erupted when a group of New People's Army guerillas attacked patrolling combatants of the 33rd Infantry Battalion.
The soldiers were dispatched to Barangay Nati to verify reported presence of NPAs in the area suspected to be preparing an attack to local peasant communities.
1Lt. Mark Soria, team leader of the ambushed troops, said four guerillas were killed in the initial exchanges of gunfire.
Soria's team had captured a guerilla who ran out of ammunition and voluntarily turned himself in.
The running firefights the ambush precipitated forced some 300 villagers to evacuate to safer areas for fear of retaliations from the NPA.
The municipal peace and order council, chaired by Mayor Dante Manganaan, is now attending to the needs of the evacuees.
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