COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 07, 2009) – At least seven communist rebels were killed in fighting with government troops in the southern Philippines, the military said Saturday.
But rebels denied the military claims and branded the report as propaganda. The military claimed seven New People’s Army members were killed in Friday clashes in the town of Tulunan in North Cotabato province.
Fierce fighting had been reported the past few days between military and rebel forces in the province where NPA gunmen ambushed an army convoy on Wednesday.
The rebels also attacked army soldiers the next day, sparking sporadic clashes that forced civilians to flee their homes, according to military reports.
“The military is resorting to propaganda because of the defeat they suffered from the hands of revolutionary forces,” a rebel spokesman, Ka Valentin said.
The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.
Rebel leaders broke off peace talks with the Arroyo government in 2004 after the United States listed the communist rebel group, including the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front, as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad on government's prodding.
The NPA vowed to intensify attacks against police and military targets in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
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