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Four killed in NPA, Philippine military encounters

Xinhua, July 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Three New People's Army (NPA) rebels and a government soldier were killed and two other soldiers were wounded in separate incidents in central Philippine provinces of Sorsogon and Masbate Thursday morning, said military officials.

Angelo Guzman, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)' Southern Luzon Command, said the three rebels died following a firefight with the Army's 31st Infantry Battalion in barangay Bacolod in Irosin town in Sorsogon.

Guzman said the soldiers were conducting house-to-house dialogue in the barangay when they were fired upon by NPA rebels at about 11:30 a.m.

The 15-minute firefight also resulted in the wounding of two soldiers.

At around 9 a.m., three NPA rebels gunned down a soldier in barangay Bagacay in San Jacinto town in Ticao Island in Masbate.

"He was on his way to send money to his family when he was shot by the three NPA SPARUs (Special Partisan Unit members). They ( rebels) withdrew using motorized banca after the attack," said Guzman.

The 4,000-strong NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been fighting a leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces since 1969. Endi