Army troops clash with rebels in Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY – Government troops clashed with New People’s Army rebels on Tuesday in the southern Philippine province of North Cotabato, officials said.

Major Ezra Balagtey, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the fighting in the village of Sumalili in Arakan town lasted 20 minutes.

He said there were no casualties on both sides, but troops from the 84^thInfantry Battalion have recovered an AK-47 assault rifle, a .45-caliber pistol, two fragmentation grenades, three magazines and ammunition for M16 automatic rifle, and a rifle grenade, including 10 jungle packs and a medical kit.

Balagtey said the soldiers were patrolling the village when they ran into a group of communist rebels and a firefight ensued.

He said General Aurelio Baladad, chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command, vowed to pursue the rebels unless they surrender peacefully.

“We will not allow them to continue intimidating the communities and launch anti-development atrocities that will hamper the delivery of development and socio economic growth in the countryside,” the spokesman quoted Baladad as saying.

The NPA has been waging a separatist war for many decades now in an effort to overthrow the democratic government and install a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)