MISAMIS ORIENTAL, (PNA) -– Sporadic fighting between government troopers and communist rebels continue in the hinterlands of Misamis Oriental as of Tuesday, wounding four Army soldiers.
Col. Evan Bermudo, commander of the Army’s 58th IB, said on Tuesday that the government troopers were conducting hot pursuit operations against communist guerrillas who overran an Army base in Sitio Lantad in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental last Sunday when the encounter took place.
Bermudo said the soldiers encountered the rebels in Sitio Minkamansi in Lagonglong Monday morning when waylaid by about 20 fully armed rebels of the New People’s Army (NPA) that resulted in the running gun battle.
He said that the rebels lobbed an anti-personnel land mine to the government troopers in the initial firefight which resulted in the wounding of four soldiers of the Army’s 58th IB.
The wounded soldiers were still in the mountains of Lagonglong since rescue and retrieval became difficult due to bad weather and the absence of suitable landing site for helicopter gunships, Bermudo added.
He said that reinforcement was sent Monday afternoon as the government troopers continued to engage in sporadic fighting with the communist guerrillas in the rebel- infested town of Lagonglong, a neighboring town of Balingasag, both in Misamis Oriental.