DAVAO CITY – Two communist rebels were killed in fierce clashes Thursday afternoon in Davao City in southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said the fighting, which erupted in Paquibato District, also left five rebels and five government soldiers wounded.
The clashes broke out after patrolling troops from the 69th Infantry Battalion ran into a group of New People’s Army members in Purok Manga, according to Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command.
He said troops recovered ammunition and backpacks left behind by fleeing rebels.
“The soldiers recovered ammunition for high-powered firearms and backpacks at the encounter site. The soldiers suffered minor shrapnel wounds and are now in stable condition,” he said.
Caber did not say if troops had recovered the slain rebels. He also cited alleged reports by local villagers that 5 rebels were wounded in the fighting.
“Residents in the area reported that there are five wounded NPA bandits who were carried by their companion in their escape,” he said.
Soldiers and rebels have previously clashed in the area – a known NPA stronghold – the past days, according to Caber, who claimed that villagers were complaining about extortion activities by rebels.
The allegations cannot be independently confirmed, but the military traditionally use unnamed civilians, often fictitious, for their propaganda to counter rebel disinformation campaign.
Just recently, troops had killed 3 alleged rebels in Paquibato, but human rights groups claimed those slain were innocent civilians, an accusation strongly denied by the military.
The NPA has been fighting for the past decades in an effort to put up its own Maoist state. (Mindanao Examiner)
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