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Tuesday, November 22, 2005
3 soldiers killed in new clash with rebels (10:50 a.m.)
MANILA -- Communist rebels dealt fresh blows to the military, killing three soldiers and wounding nine others in the same northern town where the guerrillas ambushed a group of police officers at the weekend, an army spokesman said Tuesday.
Maj. Bartolome Bacarro said troops on Monday encountered "50 black fatigue-clad armed communist terrorists" in Tiaong town in Quezon province, 90 kilometers (56 miles) southeast of Manila, and engaged them in a firefight that left three soldiers dead and nine wounded. There were no reports of rebel casualties.
The latest confrontation follows the bloodiest rebel attack this year that killed nine troops and wounded 25 on Saturday in central Iloilo province, the day before the New People's Army rebels shot dead one police officers and wounded three in Tiaong.
On Monday, government troops said they killed 10 suspected guerrillas on a farm near Palo town on central Leyte island, but human rights activists and left-wing Representative Satur Ocampo insisted the victims were unarmed farmers.
The military defended its action.
"It was a legitimate encounter. There were firearms recovered and they are members of the NPA group evading operations being conducted in other areas," said Maj. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos, the commander of the 8th Infantry Brigade.
The rebels, who are on US and European lists of terrorist organizations, have been fighting for a Maoist state since the late 1960s. They suspended Norwegian-brokered talks with the government last year, saying Philippine officials had done little to try to get the group removed from the terrorist blacklists.
Rebel spokesman Gregorio Rosal congratulated the guerrillas for "the successful tactical offensives," and in a statement Monday, encouraged them to step up attacks against "thinly stretched" government troops.(AP) |
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