Two rebels, 1 soldier killed in new clashes in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 22, 2009) – Two communist rebels and a government soldier were killed in separate fighting Sunday in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Lt. Col. Roland Bautista, spokesman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said troops killed two New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in a clash in Davao del Norte’s Talaingod town.

He said there were no military casualties in the fighting and soldiers captured two automatic rifles left behind by fleeing rebels. Soldiers also recovered the bodies of the slain rebels in Dagohoy village where the fighting broke out.

“Two NPA rebels were killed and their bodies recovered by the troops,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Fighting also erupted in Panabo City, also in Davao del Norte, after NPA rebels ambushed a military truck in the village of Dalisay, killing one soldier and wounding at least three more infantrymen.

The military said rebel forces detonated a landmine as the patrol was passing the village on their way to Davao City.

Army Capt. Rosa Manuel said the rebels violated the international ban of the use of landmines. She said troops also recovered more unexploded mines in the area.

The rebels said that command-detonated land mines are legitimate offensive and defensive weapons they employed in the course of the people’s war against the military.

Early this month, the military said it killed seven NPA rebels in fierce fighting in North Cotabato's Tulunan town, scene of bloody clashes in recent months between the two groups.

But rebel leaders denied the reported casualties and branded the military report as propaganda.
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 NPA, including the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front, as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad on Manila's prodding.

The NPA vowed to intensify attacks against police and military targets in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)