ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Government troops have recovered gun parts and several types of ammunition from an armed group following an encounter in Zamboanga del Norte.
Soldiers of the 42nd Infantry Battalion and members of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit were patrolling Sitio Balas, Barangay Poblacion, Kalawit on Friday when they encountered members of the Suminggal group.
The suspects fled toward Barangay Palalian after a 30-minute gunfight.
“There was no reported casualty, but several war materials…were…abandoned by the retreating armed group,” Maj. Ronald Suscano, spokesman for the Army’s First Division, said yesterday.
Suscano said parts of a grenade launcher and M16 rifle, a hammock, ammunition for an M16 rifle and an M14 rifle, a pair of combat boots and an Arabic booklet were recovered from the suspects.
The Suminggal group, which is reportedly involved in extortion and land grabbing in Zamboanga del Norte, is headed by a certain Monib Aquila.