DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Clashes between soldiers and New People’s Army rebels have broke out anew in Mindanao during the past few days.
The latest incidents, which took place about two weeks since the conclusion of the first round of negotiations between the government and the rebels, occurred in Compostela Valley on Wednesday.
Senior Superintendent Aaron Aquino, Compostela Valley police chief, said that a soldier was wounded in the first firefight which occurred in the municipality of Monkayo at 8:50 a.m. on Wednesday.
Aquino said at around 2 p.m. another clash took place somewhere between the towns of Mawab and Nabuturan, which resulted in the death of a woman rebel.
Colonel Roberto Domines Jr., commander of the Army’s 1001st Infantry Brigade, said soldiers were on patrol when they chanced upon several armed guerrillas, sparking a 30-minute gun battle.
Aside from the body of the female rebel, who was estimated to be between 18 and 20 years old, Domines said the soldiers also recovered an M-16 rifle, ammunition, personal belongings and a Honda 200R motorcycle.
On Monday, soldiers and rebels also clashed in Malita, Davao del Sur, two days after a similar incident occurred in the same municipality, according to Lieutenant Raul Villegas, civil military operations officer of the 39th Infantry Battalion.
Villegas said the military suffered no casualty in the encounters but he believed that the NPA incurred injuries.
“More troops were already deployed in the area after the military received reports that some villages in the said town were infested by rebels,” he said.
On Sunday, three policemen were also killed following an ambush by NPA rebels in Malaybalay City in Bukidnon.
Five others were also wounded during the 11 a.m. attack in Mapayag village, according to Major Julio Eugenio Osias, spokesperson of the army’s 4th Infantry Division.
In Sultan Kudarat province, clashes were also recorded in Columbio town, which shares borders with Tampakan in South Cotabato and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur.
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines and has been waging a protracted war for the establishment of a Maoist government for the past 40 years.
Talks between the government and the rebels recently resumed after having been stalled for several years.