CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 15, 2011) – The Philippine military said it killed a still undetermined number of communist rebels in a clash Thursday while another group of gunmen raided a provincial jail in the southern province of Surigao del Sur, officials said.
Officials said the fighting erupted in the village of San Pedro in Lianga after patrolling troops ran into a group of New People’s Army rebels. “The fighting was intense and it lasted more than 40 minutes and only stopped after rebels retreated to the hinterlands and brining their casualties,” Army Major Eugenio Osias, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said there were no reports of military casualties and that soldiers recovered weapons left behind by rebels.
But another NPA group raided the provincial jail also in Lianga town and carted away assorted firearms, although there were no reports of clashes. Osias said some 15 rebels, who arrived in a van, were disguised as soldiers and able to enter the jail and disarmed several guards.
Government soldiers were dispatched to track down the rebels, he said.
Major General Victor Felix, a regional army commander, ordered more troops in the province to guard for more possible rebel attacks during the yuletide holiday.
The fighting and the raid occurred hours before President Benigno Aquino declared an 18-day unilateral truce with communist rebels.
“We want to give people a peaceful Christmas so they’ll be able to enjoy the holidays without fear of violence. Law enforcement will continue but there will be no offensive actions on the part of the military,” said Secretary Teresita Deles, Aquino’s peace adviser.
The rebels are fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the largely Catholic country wracked by communist and Muslim insurgencies. (Mindanao Examiner)
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