Soldier, leftist rebel killed in S. Philippine clashes
Xinhua, August 27, 2015 Adjust font size:
Two people were killed in separate clashes between government troops and leftist rebels in southern Philippines, the military said on Thursday.
An alleged New People's Army (NPA) insurgent died in a firefight with soldiers while another was captured in Laak town, in Mindanao's Compostela Valley province on Thursday, said Roberto Bunagan, commander of the army's 60th Infantry Battalion.
Bunagan said troops on combat patrol clashed with some 100 NPA gunmen at around 8 a.m. local time, killing one guerrilla whose body was recovered by soldiers. Another rebel was arrested and several firearms seized.
On Wednesday morning, a soldier was killed and another hurt in a clash with NPA rebels in Baganga town, Davao Oriental, some 200 kilometers to the northeast, said Alberto Caber, spokesperson of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command.
Caber said pursuit operations are now being conducted against the rebels.
The 4,000-strong NPA, an armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting a leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces since 1969. Endi