MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 27, 2013) – At least 18 people were killed and wounded following an ambush before dawn Saturday by communist rebels in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental, security officials said.
Officials said New People’s Army rebels attacked a truck transporting policemen and village guards in the town of La Castellana.
The policemen were returning back to their station when rebels, hiding alongside the road, opened fire on the truck as it passed in village.
The ambush triggered a fire fight, but rebels overpowered the policemen and village guards.
There was no immediate statement from the NPA, but the rebel group usually take responsibility days later after it launched an attack.
The NPA has been fighting for decades now to overthrow the democratic government and install a communist state in the country. Peace talks in the past had collapsed mainly due to demands by rebels to free all political prisoners which Manila flatly rejected. (Mindanao Examiner)
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