MANILA – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has "neutralized" a total of 1,311 New People's Army (NPA) members and supporters in the first seven months of this year.
"Neutralized" in military parlance collectively refers to the surrender, arrest, and death of insurgent members or supporters due to ongoing AFP and government efforts.
In a statement Tuesday night, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said these include 1,121 who surrendered, 97 apprehended, and 93 killed from Jan. 1 to Aug. 1 this year.
"(Aside from this) a total of 728 firearms and 225 anti-personnel mines were either captured or surrendered, and 157 encampments were seized," Padilla noted.
The AFP spokesperson refused to give more details for security reasons.
In the same period, a total of 176 "local terrorist group" (LTG) members were also neutralized -- 124 surrendered, 46 were killed, and six were arrested.
Padilla said a total of 166 firearms and 21 anti-personnel mines were either captured or surrendered, and 10 encampments were seized during military operations aimed against these LTG members.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has earlier committed to ending the threat posed by the NPA under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s "Bagong Pilipinas" brand of governance.
National Security Adviser and NTF-ELCAC co-vice chair Eduardo Año said the AFP has been successful in destroying the politico-military component of all the 89 active NPA guerrilla fronts since 2018 when the anti-insurgency body was created under Executive Order (EO) 70. (PNA)
