Manila, May 1 At least seven suspected guerrillas from the communist insurgent group New People’s Army (NEP) were killed in a clash with the Philippine Army on the island of Samar, east of the archipelago, the Philippine state news agency reported Monday.
Infantry troops “had an armed encounter with 40 rebels inside the village of Santander, in the city of Bobon (north of Samar), after receiving a notice from the neighbors about the sighting of armed men on the outskirts of their village”, detailed the Philippine News Agency in a statement, although it did not detail the date of the shooting.
According to this source, which did not specify whether any members of the Army were injured, at least seven members of the NEP died in the fray, all of them members of a “subregional unit” of the guerilla whose leader, Mario Sevillano, is a high-ranking member of the rebel insurgency wanted by authorities for committing “numerous atrocities”.
The Philippine Army has also not confirmed whether Sevillano was captured or killed in the firefight.
The conflict between the Army and the NEP has claimed between 30,000 – according to the Philippine Army – and 45,000 – according to various NGOs – since 1969, and is already the longest-running communist rebellion in the world. EFE
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