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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY: Communist in surgents killed
three soldiers and wounded six others in a clash on Saturday in
southern Philippines, the military said.
The Philippine Army said the clash erupted in a
barangay (village) in Davao City’s Toril district after New
People’s Army (NPA) rebels attacked an Army post shortly before 7
a.m.
An Army report did not say whether any NPA
rebels were killed or wounded.
The outskirts of Davao City are known stronghold
of the communist insurgents, who have been fighting for more than
four decades for the establishment of a separate Maoist state.
The military’s chief, Gen. Hermogenes
Esperon Jr., had vowed to crush all communist fronts in the country
before the end of the term of President Gloria Arroyo in 2010.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano said the
strength of the rebel group is steadily declining because of
continued government offensives.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed
Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic
Front. It broke off peace talks with the government in 2004 after
the United States prodded Manila to add it to its list of foreign
terrorist organizations.
Rebel leaders said they would only resume peace
negotiations if Washington removes them from the terror tag and if
President Arroyo is ousted. Meanwhile, they have stepped up their
attacks on government and military targets across the country.
Last month, the military rewarded with more than
P1 million two civilians who had helped capture two senior NPA
leaders in Mindanao—Saturnino Roda, who was captured in Zamboanga
del Sur province in August last year, and Joe Paculba, captured also
after Roda’s fall in Misamis Occidental province.
The military said the bounty is part of
Manila’s Rewards for Justice Program patterned after the US
rewards program. It added that rewards are a big boost to the
ongoing anti-insurgency campaign in the Philippines.
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