Govt militiaman killed, Army officer hurt in Surigao Sur clash

A government militiaman was killed while an Army officer was wounded following a clash with suspected communist rebels in the southern province of Surigao del Sur on Tuesday, a police report said. About 10:30 a.m., patrolling government troops providing road security to the equipment of SUDECOR (Surigao Development Corporation) headed by 1Lt. Marlon Tapec engaged more or less 10 New People's Army (NPA) rebels in Barangay Hinapuyan in Carmen town, the report said. The 40-minute firefight resulted in the killing of Roger Cuizon and the wounding of Tapec, the report added. Later, responding troops recovered several items from the encounter site: land mine, electrical wire measuring 20 meters, spent shells from M14, M16A1, Garand, AK 47 and Carbine rifles. Army troops have since conducted pursuit operations while police have set up blocking points in the area. — with Ben Serrano/RSJ, GMANews.TV