ZAMBOANGA CITY, 26 June 2004 — Two communist rebels were killed and two soldiers wounded in a clash with troops in the southern Philippines amid ongoing peace talks between the government and rebel leaders in Norway, the military said. Fighting erupted Thursday after a military patrol ran into a group of about New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Paquibato district in the outskirts of Davao City, said a report by the military’s Southern Command. Two rebels were killed and two government soldiers had been injured in the fighting that lasted more than 30 minutes, said the report.
