1 NPA killed, 2 captured in Sultan Kudarat clash

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat --- An NPA bandit was killed while two others were captured after a clash with Army troops in Laguilayan village here at 10:30am yesterday.
The troops of the 33rd Infantry (Makabayan) Battalion, while acting on a tip-off from a farmer, engaged more or less 30 communist bandits in Sitio Tamil-tamil, a thickly vegetated area in the Daguma Mountain Range.Capt Raul Gandionco, the leader of the engaged troops said that they engaged the bandits in a running gunbattle. We recovered an M16 Rifle, a hand grenade, and improvised bombs in the encounter site. The fleeing bandits dragged the other casualties with them, said Gandionco.
Col. Bismarck Soliba, the Commander of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, said that the NPA bandits under Ka George have trained minors in their encampment.
The employment of child warriors in armed conflict is a violation of the Geneva Convention. It is also punishable under R.A. 9851, the local law that punishes IHL violations, he said. Communist influence has significantly dwindled in Sultan Kudarat due to better governance and the effective delivery of social services by the government.