ZAMBOANGA CITY, 21 July 2006 — A total of 25 communist guerrillas and four army soldiers have been killed as fighting erupoted in two fronts in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, officials said yesterday.

Brig. Gen. Alfredo Cayton, an army brigade commander, said up to 15 communist rebels were killed in a four-day firefight that begun over the weekend in Sultan Kudarat province, 1,005 kilometers south of Manila.

He added that running gunbattles continued until Wednesday and spilled over into Davao del Sur province.

“More or less 15 rebels were killed, based on the accounts of residents,” he said. “Four of our men were also injured in the clashes.”

Officials said the clashes erupted in the village of Maniki in Kapalong town in Davao del Norte province late Wednesday afternoon after troops intercepted a band of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

Col. Francisco Simbajon, spokesman for the army’s 4th Infantry Division, told Arab News that a senior NPA leader named Verino Antolihao was killed in the fighting.

“Verino was a notorious rebel leader and chief of the NPA’s Front Committee 35 of Southern Mindanao Regional Committee,” Simbajon said.

Edwin Bermudez, mayor of Columbio town in Sultan Kudarat, said the clashes displaced nearly 1,000 people in his area.

Lt. Col. Perfecto Rimando said the clash erupted when rebels on board two vehicles tried to breach a checkpoint in the village of Maniki. He said six other soldiers were wounded in the 15-minute firefight that ensued before the rebels fled to the jungle.

The guerrillas were apparently planning to sow fear and disrupt the annual town fiesta of Kapalong, which was being celebrated on that day, Rimando added.

Government security forces have been conducting intensified operations against communist guerrillas since last month when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed to wipe out the insurgents before her term ends in 2010.

Arroyo has also ordered the release of 1 billion pesos ($18.86 million) for the acquisition of war materials to boost the anti-communist campaign.

Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.

The guerrillas have supported calls for the resignation of Arroyo over allegations she rigged the 2004 presidential elections. They were also linked to a foiled plot with military rebels to topple the Arroyo government.