NPA rebels, soldiers clash in Agusan Norte

BUTUAN CITY — Government soldiers from the Army's 30th Infantry Battalion clashed with some 30 suspected members of the New People's Army Wednesday morning, a military report said Thursday. According to Maj. Gen. Victor Felix, commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division, government troops headed by Lt. Reynaldo B. Guillermo were on patrol operations when the encounter happened in Kitcharao town's Barangay Bangayan in Agusan del Norte. Felix said that after a 15-minute firefight, the rebels, around 30, withdrew heading to the mountainous area of the mineral and-timber-rich Zapanta Valley. He said there was no reported casualty on the government side, but an undetermined number of casualties on the enemy side was possible as manifested by bloodstains along the rebels' escape route. Recovered from the encounter site were two backpacks, a handheld radio and subversive documents, the report said. Meanwhile, on Wednesday noon, the Philippine National Police regional office and the Philippine Army command in the area headed by Maj. Gen. Felix, signed a memorandum of agreement for peace and security in the Caraga region. — Ben Serrano/LBG, GMA News