NPA leader killed in Surigao Norte

MANILA, Philippines — A New People’s Army (NPA) leader was killed while one of his fighters was arrested in a military offensive in Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte on Tuesday.

Reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo yesterday identified the fatality only as War, said to be a vice commander of an NPA unit.

2nd Lt. Benjamin de Dios, civil military operations officer of the 30th Infantry Battalion, said an M16 rifle, an M203 grenade launcher, fragmentation grenades and personal belongings were among those recovered at the scene.

De Dios said soldiers were responding to reports that members of the NPA’s North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee were threatening members of an indigenous tribe in Barangay Lahi when the clash occurred.