By Xinhua,
Manila : At least 15 suspected members of the left-wing New People’s Army were killed while 12 others were captured in a clash with government troops over the weekend, the Philippine Army said on Monday.
The insurgents were slain and arrested in pursuit operations by the Army’s 30th Infantry Battalion and the 42nd Military Intelligence Company on the Philippines’ southern island of Siargao, said Romeo Brawner, spokesman for the Philippine Army.
Brawner said the pursuing troops were augmented by the local police, which helped in the follow-up operations launched after the rebels attacked a police station and burned a cellular phone transmission on the island late Saturday.
Eastern Mindanao regional military spokesman Maj. Armand Rico earlier said two policemen were killed and four others were wounded in the encounter, Philippine TV network GMA News reported.
The estimated 5,700-member New People’s Army, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been waging a 39-year rebellion across the country in a protracted conflict that has killed 40,000 people and stunted economic growth in one of Southeast Asia’s poorest states.