5 leftist rebels killed in clashes with Philippine security forces
MANILA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Five leftist rebels were killed in two separate clashes with Philippine security forces in central and southern Philippines on Thursday, the government military said.
The military said local policemen fought out with an undetermined number of New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas that attacked a police station in Victoria town in the central Philippine Northern Samar province around 3:50 a.m. on Thursday.
Three rebels were killed and three others captured in the foiled NPA attack, the military said. Two civilians aboard a private car were also wounded when the rebels opened fire at their car, the military added.
Police recovered four high-powered firearms from the rebels, including a M60 machine gun, two M16 assault rifles and an M14 rifle, the military said.
The military said troops also clashed with rebels in Mabini town in Compostela Valley in the southern Philippines around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, killing two rebels and capturing another. A soldier was also wounded in the incident, the military said.
Arsenio Andolong, the spokesperson for the Philippine Department of National Defense, urged Filipinos on Thursday to denounce the atrocities committed by the NPAs during its five-decade existence and support the government in its efforts to crush the insurgents.
"Let us show the world that the NPA and their ways of crime, violence and terror have no place in our homes, in our society, and in our country," Andolong said in a statement on the eve of the 50th founding anniversary of the armed struggle that began in the 1960s.
The NPA fighters are believed to number around 3,500 fighters, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s during the martial law era.
The NPA has engaged in killings, bombings and hostage-taking across the archipelago, collecting "revolutionary taxes" from businesses in the areas it controls.
Since the 1980s NPA has entered into talks with successive governments, but a peace deal has remained elusive.
