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Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Two communist rebels killed in clash with troops (1:05 p.m.)
MANILA--Two communist guerrillas were killed in a clash with government troops in a town just south of the capital Manila, the military said Wednesday.
Troops were on routine combat patrol early Tuesday when they ran into some 20 New People's Army (NPA) rebels near the town of General Nakar, sparking a firefight.
Two rebels were killed, one of them identified as Ulpiano Araneta, a ranking member of the guerrilla front operating in the area, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lucero said.
Araneta led an NPA group that gunned down local vice-mayor Eduardo Durate last month and murdered a retired army sergeant last year. His group was also responsible for an attack on a coast guard detachment that killed two people last year.
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which this month resumed formal peace talks with Manila in a bid to end their 35-year Maoist insurgency. (AFP) |
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