Philippine Army troops capture senior NPA rebel leader

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 1, 2010) – Filipino soldiers killed two communist rebels and captured a senior guerrilla leader after a running gun battle in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao, officials announced Monday.

Major General Carlos Holganza, a regional army commander, said the New People's Army rebel leader, Elizalde Canete, was also wounded in the weekend clash which broke out in the village of Sarmiento in Laak town.

A government soldier and two rebels were also wounded in the firefight, he said.

“One of the wounded rebels expired while being treated by government troops in the area, while the other rebel, identified as Elizalde Canete was brought out of the area by helicopter to the government hospital in Davao City,” Holganza said.

He said troops recovered three automatic weapons, including a hand grenade and a transceiver radio and anti-government propaganda.

Canete is facing a string or criminal charges from multiple murders to robbery and homicide, the general said.

The fighting erupted after members of the Army Special Forces spotted the rebels and a firefight ensued.

The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a secessionist war the past five decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)