DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 12, 2014) – Fresh fighting erupted Wednesday between government troops and communist rebels in the southern Philippines and army officials said one soldier was killed in the clashes.
Officials said the fighting broke out in the village of Panoraon in Compostela Valley’s Maco town and that three other soldiers were wounded in the battle.
“The fighting is still raging, but one soldier was confirmed dead and three others wounded,” Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
There was no immediate statement from the NPA about the latest fighting, but the province is a known stronghold of the communist front.
On Tuesday, a rebel spokesman Dencio Madrigal owned up to daring and deadly attacks on police and military targets in Davao del Sur’s Matanao town that killed at least a dozen people.
He said the attacks on a police base and military forces were a punishment for the “reign of terror” against indigenous tribes and other communities opposing mining operations in the province.
Those killed in the rebel attacks had been given honors by the military in Davao City. (Mindanao Examiner)
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