BACOLOD CITY – The Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IB) reported that around 260 residents were evacuated from Barangay Camudlas, Bindoy, Negros Oriental, after government forces clashed with suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members in the said village on Thursday.
Maj. Franco Ver Lopez, Civil Military Operations (CMO) officer of the 303rd IB said that 60 families temporarily stayed at Bindoy Central School in Poblacion.
The residents vacated their houses on April 30 after troops of the 94th Infantry Battalion (IB) and personnel of Bindoy Municipal Police Station encountered the armed group when they responded to reports of extortion in the said area amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
During the clash, two suspected rebels were killed while a soldier was wounded.
Lopez said the residents were taken cared of during the evacuation and were unharmed.
They were already given assistance by the local government unit.
He said some of them had already went home the following day, after the area was cleared from possible NPA threats. (Glazyl Masculino)