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Ten communist rebels and two soldiers were killed in
a daylong clash in Bukidnon, the military said Friday.
About 30 guerrillas of the
communist New People’s Army attacked government troops outside
Malaybalay City on Thursday, leading to the battle, reports reaching
Camp Aguinaldo said.
Among the fatalities were two
female NPA fighters.
Two rifles and a makeshift
landmine were recovered from the scene of the battle, it said,
adding that soldiers are still pursuing the remaining NPA fighters.
The reports said two soldiers and
a militiaman were wounded in the fighting.
Maj. Samuel Sagun, spokesman for
the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said a patrol from the 403rd
Infantry Brigade chanced upon a group of 30 rebels from the NPA’s
Front Committee 89.
Sagun identified the dead
soldiers as Cpl. Antonio Jamanda and Private Franklin Tan.
The 7, 400-strong NPA is the
armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines that has been
waging war against the government for nearly four decades.
Last January the military
launched a new offensive to crush the communist rebels before
President Arroyo term expires in 2010.
--Anthony Vargas and AFP
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