4 rebels killed, high-powered firearms seized in Quezon clash

As the government intensifies its campaign against the New People’s Army (NPA) insurgents, four rebels were reported killed and four high-powered firearms were seized as troops from the 201st Infantry Brigade clashed with the bandits in San Francisco town, Quezon Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Mike Gonzalez (TheCoffee) – English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0,)

MANILA—As the government intensifies its campaign against the New People’s Army (NPA) insurgents, four rebels were reported killed and four high-powered firearms were seized as troops from the 201st Infantry Brigade clashed with the bandits in San Francisco town, Quezon Tuesday afternoon.

The encounter took place 2 p.m. at Sitio Umagos, Barangay Mabunga of the said locality, 2nd Infantry Division public affairs office chief 1st Lt. Xy-zon Meneses said to the PNA in a message.

“Said operation was conducted by the troops of 2nd Jungle Fighter Company under the operational control of 201st Bde, 2nd Division, in response to an information tipped-off by the concerned citizen in the area,” he added.

In the ensuing firefight, four of the rebels were killed while no losses were sustained by government troops.

201st Infantry Brigade commander Col. Lenard Agustin said the slain rebels are yet to be identified.

While the recovered high-powered firearms included two AK-47 automatic rifles, one M-16 rifle and another M-16 fitted with an M-203 grenade launcher.

As of this posting, the 2nd Infantry Division has already neutralized six NPAs and recovered eight high-powered firearms along with various ammunition and explosives since the cancellation of the peace talks and its attendant ceasefire last February 4.