Friday, September 26, 2008

Policemen Wounded In Clash With Rebels In Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 26, 2008) – One Philippine policeman was wounded in a clash Friday with communist insurgents in Davao City in Mindanao Island, officials said.

Officials said police forces, backed by army soldiers, clashed with insurgents at around 1.10 p.m. in the village of Tamayong in Calinan district. They said villagers reported the presence of gunmen in the area.

Major Armando Rico, a regional army spokesman, said an undetermined number of insurgents were either killed or wounded in the fighting.

“They suffered heavy casualties,” Rico said, referring to the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004.

On Thursday, eight insurgents and three government soldiers were killed in fierce clashes that also left 14 infantrymen wounded in Lingig town in Surigao del Sur province, where troops captured a rebel base.

The rebels broke off peace talks with the Filipino government after they accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on a deal that would have freed hundreds of political detainees and a put a stop to extrajudicial killings of activists in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

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