Manila, Feb. 7 -- Government forces arrested a communist New People's Army (NPA) rebel and seized from him an M16 rifle with ammunition following two brief encounters with military troopers in Barangay Sangay here Friday morning.

Lt. Col. Christopherson Capuyan, commander of the Army's 37th Infantry Battalion (37IB), said the first encounter occurred at 9:30 a.m. between their troopers and insurgents under the NPA Platoon 2, Sub-Regional Committee (SRC-Daguma) Far South Mindanao Region.

"The fighting lasted for about 20 minutes, and the rebels fled," Capuyan said in a report.

While conducting a clearing operation two hours later, soldiers clashed again with the same group of rebels, but the guerrillas retreated anew, leaving one of the...