COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 13, 2012) – Government troops clashed Tuesday with communist rebels, killing one gunman and wounding another near the town of Tulunan in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Col. Prudencio Asto, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division, said the wounded rebel was airlifted by army soldiers to a military hospital in Maguindanao province to save his life.
He said the fighting broke out following a military operation in the town where New People’s Army rebels were harassing civilians and extorting money from villagers.
“The encounter came after the 602nd Infantry Brigade launched an operation in the area as a result of information provided by residents to the military. The civilians are fed up with the threats and intimidation, and extortion of the NPA in the town,” Asto told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said no soldiers were killed or wounded in the fighting. There were also no reports of civilian casualties.
The NPA has been fighting to overthrow the democratic government and install a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
20