Armed man dies in clash with Army soldiers

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – An unidentified armed man was killed in an encounter with the Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) at Sitio Icugan, Barangay Minapasuk, Calatrava, Negros Occidental yesterday.

The Army has yet to identify the fatality.

Captain Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of 3rd Infantry Division (ID), said Army troopers were conducting strike operations in response to reports of the presence of armed men in the area when they encountered some of them around 5:19 a.m.

Pancito said the firefight lasted for about five minutes. No injuries were reported on the government side.

Recovered from the site were a .45-caliber pistol, a .38-caliber revolver, and subversive documents.

Pancito said they could not confirm if the armed men were linked to the New People’s Army (NPA) as members of the Special Partisan Unit (Sparu).

However, he said they are looking into the possibility that they were members of a new group of lawless elements in the town.

Pancito said the remains of the fatality was already turned over to the local government.