CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 21, 2012) – Communist insurgents killed a government militia in a clash Saturday with security forces in the southern Philippine city of Malaybalay, officials said.
Officials said the fighting erupted in the village of Dalwangan when patrolling troops ran into a largely group of New People’s Army rebels.
“There is one casualty, a government militia, and we still don’t know if there were rebels killed or wounded in the clash,” Major Eugenio Osias, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said troops recovered at least three automatic weapons left behind by fleeing rebels and that the military has ordered a pursuit operation.
“There is an ongoing pursuit operation to capture the rebels who are harassing civilians and military forces in the area,” Osias said.
He said troops are running after some 50 rebels under a still unknown leader.
The NPA has been fighting for the past four five decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.
Government peace talks with rebels had collapsed after Manila rejected demands by communist leaders to unconditionally free of all political prisoners languishing in jails across the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
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