Troops, Reds clash in southern Philippines

About three to four suspected communist rebels were either killed or wounded following a clash with government security forces in the southern Philippine province of Compostella Valley Saturday, a regional military official said. About 7 a.m., elements of the Army’s 60th Infantry Battalion engaged an undetermined number of New People’s Army (NPA) belonging to Front Committee 34 of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC) at Sitio Katuba, Datu Ampunan village in Laak town, said Lt. Col. Francisco Simbajon, spokesman of the 4th Infantry Division. No government casualties were reported in the incident, said Simbajon, adding that three or four rebels were either killed or wounded seen being carried by their fleeing comrades. Simbajon said operating troops recovered a combat pack containing subversive documents and a list of names of loggers with their corresponding contributions to the outlawed group. “We are continuing with our pursuit operations," Simbajon said. In mid-June, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed to crush the communist insurgency in two years’ time, ordering the release of P1 billion to fund operations of the military and police. The President’s defense and military officials, however, stressed that defeating the NPAs could take between six to 10 years, although they said the enemy could be “drastically" reduced within Mrs. Arroyo’s announced timeline. But on Wednesday, a military intelligence paper showed that for the first half of this year, more soldiers had died compared to insurgents in skirmishes in the countryside, 104-87. Peace talks with the mainstream communist movement remain stalled since August 2004. - GMANews.TV