Four communist rebs killed in fresh fighting in Qu

Four New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed in fresh fighting in Quezon yesterday as pursuing police and Army troopers clashed with retreating guerrillas who attacked a police detachment in Pagbilao town last Friday.

Superintendent Roberto Rosales, Quezon police director, said more rebels could have been killed.

Elements of the local police and the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion under Col. Jojie Segovia caught up with some 12 guerrillas in the mountains at the boundary of Atimonan, Padre Burgos and Unisan towns at about 10:30 a.m. yesterday.

A fierce firefight ensued and the rebels withdrew, leaving behind the bodies of four unidentified comrades. The government troopers recovered five M-16 Armalite rifles at the encounter site.

Rosales said the rebels were monitored retreating toward the northern stretch of the national highway between Atimonan and Pagbilao towns.

Rosales said the rebels were among those who swooped down on the police detachment in Barangay Talipan in Pagbilao last Friday, killing a policeman and wounding another. They carted away the slain policeman’s M-16 Armalite rifle.

The body of an amazon was recovered some 30 meters away from the detachment. A caliber .38 revolver was found near her body.