NORTH COTABATO — Soldiers captured a wounded communist rebel and recovered roadside bombs during encounters in Makilala town on Saturday.
The 42-year-old Randy Anggit Indo of the Guerilla Front 51 of the New People’s Army was brought by personnel of the 39th Infantry Battalion to a hospital.
He was one of more than 30 NPAs who figured in running gunfights with members of the 39th IB on Saturday in Barangay Batasan in Makilala, a hinterland town in North Cotabato.
Military said hostilities erupted when Indo and his companions opened fire on soldiers and militiamen dispatched to check the reported presence of NPAs in the barangay collecting “protection money” from villagers at gunpoint.
Two soldiers were wounded in the ensuing skirmishes, according to Lt. Col. Harold Argamosa, 39th IB commander.
Barangay residents told reporters Indo was one of five NPAs wounded in the encounter. His comrades fled in nearby Barangay Biangan in the same town.
Argamosa said the rebels also left an M-16 assault rifle and three improvised explosive devices along their escape route as they fled in haste.
“We treat wounded enemies with compassion in keeping with International Humanitarian Laws. He (Indo) will be turned over properly either to the Makilala municipal police or the North Cotabato provincial police office,” Argamosa said.
Argamosa said explosives found by soldiers at the scene of the encounter were immediately deactivated by ordnance experts.