2 suspected rebels killed in Zambo Sibugay clash

Two suspected communist rebels were killed in an encounter with government security forces in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga Sibugay on Wednesday morning, a regional military commander said Thursday. A text message from Maj. Gen. Romeo Lustestica, commander of the Army's 1st Infantry Division, said the firefight happened at Purok Basakan, Barangay Alagon in Siay town, a fourth class municipality, about 5:47 a.m. Lustestica said the clash between elements of the 53rd Infantry Battalion and an undetermined number of New People's Army (NPA) rebels lasted for 20 minutes. The clash left two insurgents dead — a male and a female — even as authorities later recovered a Carbine rifle and "voluminous subversive documents." No government casualties were reported, Lustestica said. Meanwhile in Eastern Samar, government troops recovered 52 pieces of blasting caps — used in making improvised explosive devices — placed inside a water container some 100 meters away from an abandoned rebel camp in Barangay Cagmanaba in Jipapad town. The discovery was made at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday while the troops were conducting combat operations in the area. The camp had earlier been overran by the Army's 63 Infantry Battalion, forcing its rebel occupants to flee and abandon the blasting caps. — Mark Merueñas/RSJ, GMANews.TV