Army intel officer, NPA rebel killed in separate clashes

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A communist insurgent and an Army intelligence operative were killed in separate encounters Saturday in Zamboanga del Sur, according to police.

 

Police said the fighting erupted when troops from the 53rd Infantry Battalion (53rd IB) encountered an undetermined number of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels shortly before noon at Barangay Gasa, Lakewood town.

 

Superintendent Rogelio Alabata, spokesman of Police Regional Office 9 (PRO-9), said a platoon of soldiers from the 53rd IB Charlie Company engaged in a firefight with NPA rebels under the Samahang Yunit Propaganda of Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee (SYP-WMRPC) for 10 minutes at Sitio Lanayan.

 

Alabata said reports from the local police disclosed the rebels were forced to retreat after one of its members was killed in the encounter.

 

The troops recovered the slain rebel, who was yet to be identified.

 

Meanwhile, a member of the Army intelligence was gunned down inside his house about 9:20 a.m in Dumingag town.

 

Police identified the slain soldier as Staff Sergeant Geatra Dante Solo, 50, a member of the Philippine Army assigned to the Military Intelligence Battalion (MIB) based in Pulacan, Labangan town.

 

Alabata said investigation disclosed that Solo was doing his laundry inside his house when three unidentified suspects barged into his house and shot him several times.

 

The suspects, believed to be NPA hit squad members, quickly boarded their motorcycle and sped off towards an unknown direction.

 

Police said Solo sustained three gunshot wounds on his head. Two empty shells and a deformed slug that was fired from a caliber .45 pistol were recovered at the crime scene.

 

Police believe that the attack could be an act of revenge for the death of a village leader who was suspected to be supporting the NPA.