Communist rebels raid mine, seize 3 men
-A A +AThursday, July 5, 2012
MANILA -- Communist rebels have raided a gold mining company in the southern Philippines and demanded weapons in exchange for releasing three hostages.
Armed Forces spokesperson Major Eugene Osias said about 30 New People's Army (NPA) rebels stormed into the VTO Mining company office in Rosario tow, Agusan del Sur early Thursday and seized the owner's son and two employees.
Guerrillas have in the past raided mining firms, destroying equipment, and seized weapons as punishment for the companies' reported environmental destruction and failure to meet the rebels' extortion demands or pay "revolutionary taes." However, they rarely demand ransom for hostages.
Peace talks to end more than four decades of the rural-based insurgency have stalled and recent efforts to revive them have failed.
The rebels are fighting for a Marxist state. (AP)
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