By Villamor Visaya Jr., Philippine News Agency Stringer and Philippine Daily Inquirer Correspondent
CAMP MELCHOR DELA CRUZ, Gamu, Isabela––Army troops recovered three high-powered guns and other war materiel after another gun battle Tuesday with suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Asipulo, Ifugao, the military said.
The firefight came after another encounter between the government troops and the NPA rebels in Barangay Namal said Army Capt. Karol Jay Mendoza Jr., 54th Infantry Battalion (IB) civil-military operations chief.
Mendoza said the communist rebels belong to the Guerrilla Front-Abra-Mt. Province- Ilocos Sur.
Recovered from the site of the firefight were two M-16 Armalite rifles, an M-653 baby Armalite rifle, a rifle grenade, two hand grenades, six anti- personnel landmines, and other war materials.
Soldiers said there were bloodstains on the withdrawal path of the rebels.
“The use of anti-personnel landmines by the rebels is a clear violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CAHR-IHL), which prohibits any land mines in warfare,” Lt. Col. Franz Josef Diamante, 54th IB commander, said.
On Monday, the soldiers found four anti-personnel mines with 40-meter wire, 20-piece blasting caps, medical kits, anti-government documents, and personal belongings after a 20-minute running gun battle against the rebels at Sitio Likew in Asipulo.#
