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Sunday, March 12, 2006
2 killed, 11 wounded in fierce clashes with insurgents
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Two government soldiers were killed while 11 others were wounded in fierce clashes between security forces and communist insurgents in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said six soldiers and policemen were also wounded in the fighting that erupted in the village of Libodon in Compostela Valley's Mabini town on Friday.
"The fighting lasted for hours, and many members of the New People's Army (NPA) rebels were either killed or wounded," said Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Simbahon, spokesman of the Army's 4th Infantry Division.
He said the security forces were patrolling when it ran into a huge group of NPA gunmen in the village and a firefight ensued.
Troops also clashed the same day with another NPA group in Mahanub village in Baganga town in Davao Oriental province, leaving one soldier and five insurgents wounded.
He said troops recovered subversive documents and backpacks containing medicines and anti-government propaganda from both encounters. "Our operation against the NPA is going on and we will not stop until the insurgents are neutralized," Simbahon said.
The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF), is fighting the past three decades to topple the government and install a Maoist state in the country.
Peace negotiations between Manila and rebels collapsed following the pullout of the National Democratic Front (NDF) from the talks due to its inclusion in the terror lists of the United States and the European Union. Rebel leaders demanded that President Gloria Arroyo asks the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks.
The rebels have vowed to step up attacks on government targets after Manila suspended safety and immunity guarantee for its negotiators following the collapse of the peace talks.
The military has accused the CPP and the NPA of forging an alliance with rightist soldiers to oust Arroyo and put up a coalition-revolutionary government. (Sunnex)
(March 12, 2006 issue)
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