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Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Troops clash with communist rebels in 2 provinces, 6 killed (4:20 p.m.)
MANILA -- Five communist rebels and a soldier were killed in clashes in two provinces in the latest flare-up in the decades-long Marxist insurgency, military officials said Wednesday.
Troops on a routine patrol chanced upon a band of New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas in a remote village in northern San Mariano town, triggering a brief gunbattle that killed two rebels and a soldier early Wednesday, regional army spokesman Victor Tanggawohn Jr.said.
Soldiers also clashed Tuesday with a group of guerrillas extorting money from workers in a gold-mining village in Mabini town in southern Compostela Valley province, killing three rebels.
There were no troop casualties, police said.
Automatic rifles and other weapons left behind by retreating guerrillas were recovered from both scenes, officials said.
Meanwhile, police officer Liberato Cesar was reportedly abducted by communist guerrillas Monday in Catanduanes province, about 360 kilometers (220 miles) southeast of Manila.
The guerrillas blocked Cesar and a friend on a motorcycle en route to the provincial capital of Virac, Chief Superintendent Victor Boco said. The friend was later freed and reported the abduction.
The motive was not immediately clear although the guerrillas have kidnapped military and police officers in the past for a variety of reasons, including their involvement in counterinsurgency operations.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had ordered an intensified campaign to finish off the estimated 7,000-strong NPA, which has been waging a rural-based rebellion for 37 years.
Her order came amid a spike in rebel attacks on military and police targets.
The rebels, who claim to operate in nearly 70 of the Philippines' 79 provinces, broke off Norwegian-brokered peace talks two years ago to protest the government's refusal to lobby for their removal from US and European lists of terrorist groups. (AP) |
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