- BERT BAYORAN
Two Army soldiers died, and six others were injured in renewed armed skirmishes between government troopers and members of the New People’s Army Oct. 8 in Sitio Cunalom, Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental.
The latest gunbattle was the fourth encounter that occurred between the 94th Infantry Battalion and remnants of the Central Negros 2 guerilla unit of the Komiteng Rehiyonal Negros/Cebu/Bohol/ Siquijor in Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City.
Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said the armed engagement ensued after 94IB soldiers were able to track down the fleeing rebels, who managed to escape in three previous encounters.
While the troops were maneuvering to assault the rebels’ position, they were hit by volley of fires, causing injuries to eight soldiers, Pasaporte said.
The eight were rushed to the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City, but two died while being treated, he added.
The arrival and close air support provided by Air Force helicopter gunships, in coordination with the ground troops, allowed authorities to recover the injured soldiers while the rebels fled to various directions, Pasaporte said.
The 94IB reported that the rebels also suffered casualties, as indicated by bloodstains along their withdrawal route.
The number of residents displaced by the series of encounters in the hinterlands of Brgy. Carabalan rose to more than 1,700, Mayor Raymund Tongson said.
Some of the affected families fled towards the neighboring Brgy. Payao, in the town of Binalbagan.
Classes at all levels in barangays Carabalan and Cabadiangan in Himamaylan City, as well as in Payao and Bi-ao in Binalbagan, have been suspended since Oct. 7, due to the ongoing pursuit operations of the Philippine Army./GB
