6 NPA rebels, soldier killed in encounters

Six communist rebels and a soldier were killed in clashes in Isabela and Compostela Valley in the latest flare-up in the decades-long Marxist insurgency, the military said yesterday.

Troops on routine patrol chanced upon a band of New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in a remote village in San Mariano, Isabela, triggering a brief gunbattle that killed three rebels and a soldier early yesterday, said Maj. Victor Tanggawohn Jr., regional Army spokesman.

Soldiers also clashed last Tuesday with a group of guerrillas extorting money from workers in a gold-mining village in Mabini town in southern Compostela Valley, killing three rebels. There were no troop casualties, police said.

Automatic rifles and other weapons left behind by retreating guerrillas were recovered from both scenes, officials said.

Meanwhile, a police officer, Liberato Cesar, was reportedly abducted by communist guerrillas in Catanduanes last Monday.

The guerrillas blocked Cesar and a friend on a motorcycle en route to the provincial capital of Virac, Chief Superintendent Victor Boco said. The friend was later freed and reported the abduction.

The motive was not immediately clear, although the guerrillas have kidnapped military and police officers in the past for a variety of reasons, including their involvement in counter-insurgency operations.

In June, President Arroyo ordered an intensified campaign to finish off the estimated 7,000-strong NPA, which has been waging a rural-based rebellion for 37 years.

Her order came amid an increase in rebel attacks on military and police targets.

The rebels, who claim to operate in nearly 70 of the 79 provinces, broke off Norwegian-brokered peace talks two years ago to protest the government’s refusal to lobby for their removal from US and European lists of terrorist groups. — James Mananghaya, Charlie Lagasca and AP