ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 08 Apr) A communist insurgent was killed in a running gun battle with government soldiers in the southern Philippine province of Agusan del Sur, officials said on Saturday.
Officials said one soldier was also wounded in the fighting that erupted Friday in the village of Mansanitas in Loreto town. Troops were checking the presence of New People's Army (NPA) rebels collecting illegal taxation in the village when it ran into the group and a firefight ensued, said Lt. Col. Francisco Simbajon, a spokesman for the Army's 4th Infantry Division.
"We recovered the body of the slain insurgent and several weapons left behind by retreating rebels, and we are also verifying reports that many gunmen were wounded in the clash. One of our soldiers was also wounded in the fighting," he told the Zamboanga Journal by phone.
Simbajon said villagers sought the help of patrolling soldiers after the NPA forced them into paying "revolutionary" taxes. He said some villagers who refused to pay up were threatened with harm.
He said troops on Saturday were still in the town's hinterlands and tracking down the rebels, but there were no fresh reports of clashes.
At least 10 NPA fighters were also killed by security forces in fierce clashes with some 50 rebels since Thursday in Paquibato district in the outskirts of Davao City, east of Agusan del Sur province. Two soldiers were wounded in the fighting after troops attacked a rebel hideout in the mountain village of Tapak.
The area is a notorious stronghold of the NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, which is fighting to overthrow the government and install a Maoist state in the country.
Fighting have escalated in many areas in the countryside after peace talks between the Arroyo government and CPP collapsed in 2004 following the pullout of rebels from the negotiations due to their continued inclusion in the terror lists of the United States and the European Union.
Rebel leaders demanded that President Gloria Arroyo asks the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks. Manila also suspended safety and immunity guarantee for its negotiators following the collapse of the peace talks.
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