NPA rebels ambush military patrol in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / April 25, 2010) – Communist rebels ambushed Sunday a military patrol and killing at least 2 in the southern Philippine province of Davao del Sur.

The fighting in the village of Patulangon in the town of Santa Cruz lasted almost 2 hours, said Simon Santiago, of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Santiago said: “The firefight lasted for almost two hours and resulted to two dead and one wounded on the enemy side. The NPA suffered no casualty and seized one M14 rifle from the enemy.”

“This latest blow against the 39th Infantry Battalion is a slap on the face of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command which recently declared Santa Cruz town as "NPA-free" area,” he added.

On Friday, the military said it killed a communist rebel and recovered three automatic rifles in a clash in Palma Gil village in Davao del Norte’s Talaingod town where 19 New People’s Army fighters also surrendered early this year.

Last year, more than 290 rebels allegedly surrendered in southern Mindanao, the military said.

The NPA is fighting for decades now for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. President Gloria Arroyo opened peace talks with the rebels, but negotiations collapsed in 2004 after the Communist Party of the Philippines accused her of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners and to put a stop on extrajudicial killings of political activists. (Mindanao Examiner)