10 NPAs, 2 soldiers killed in Davao clash

DAVAO CITY — Government troops overran one of the biggest camps of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Mindanao and killed 10 guerrillas in the ensuing firefight in the hinterlands of Paquibato district here late Thursday, the military said.

The gunbattle also left two soldiers, both belonging to the 5th Scout Ranger Company, dead, the Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) said.

The fresh NPA casualties brought to 15 the number of rebels killed this week as government troops intensified their offensive against the communist movement in Mindanao.

Col. Francisco Simbajon, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said the NPA camp on Mt. Bawaya in Barangay Tapak, Paquibato district is one of the biggest NPA camps in southern Philippines.

He said the NPA unit led by Leonardo Pitao, alias Commander Parago, of the Southern Mindanao Revolutionary Committee, ran the camp.

He said the Scout Rangers caught about 50 rebels at the camp by surprise, triggering a fierce gunbattle that lasted for more than two hours.

Simbajon said the rebels retreated to the jungle, bringing along the bodies of their slain comrades. He said pursuing troops found bloodstains along the rebels’ escape route.

The Scout Rangers, under the operational control of the Army’s 401st Infantry Brigade under Col. Luieni Mirar, found assorted live ammunition, two bipods for 50mm and 60mm machineguns, and subversive documents at the NPA camp.

Simbajon said the camp had bunkers that could accommodate more than 100 people.

Maj. Jose Maria Cuerpo, Southern Mindanao chief of the Armed Forces Civil Relations Group, said men of the Army’s 73rd Infantry Battalion are leading the pursuit operations against Parago’s group. — Roel Pareño, Edith Regalado, Ben Serrano and AP