TACLOBAN/ZAMBOANGA, 4 July 2004 — An army officer and six communist rebels were killed in a clash yesterday in the central island of Samar, the military said.
Soldiers from the army’s 14th Infantry Battalion were patrolling a village outside the town of Oras, in Eastern Samar province, when they encountered about 50 New People’s Army guerrillas.
The patrol leader, Lt. Dixson Dacoro, was killed along with six rebels in a 45-minute firefight, said Maj. Gen. Glen Rabonza, commander of the army’s 8th Infantry Division.
More troops were deployed to the area to pursue the fleeing rebels, who left behind their slain comrades and weapons, Rabonza said.
Eastern Samar is one of three provinces on Samar Island, about 550 kilometers (345 miles) southeast of Manila, where guerrilla activities have intensified in recent months.
Last year, the rebels raided several Samar town halls and police stations, ransacking armories and seizing communication equipment.
The military also reported a clash between soldiers and communist rebels in Compostela Valley province on the main southern island of Mindanao on Friday, but there were no reports of casualties.
Soldiers, however, recovered two homemade bombs, grenades, documents, medical kits and personal belongings of rebels who fled, said the military’s Southern Command.
It said the rebels, numbering about 40, retreated to the hinterlands, after a 30 minute running gunbattle. Troops were patrolling the village when they ran into the group of New People’s Army (NPA) members and a firefight ensued, it said.
The rebels and the government have begun talks on ending the 35-year-old Marxist insurgency, but have not agreed on a cease-fire during negotiations.
The latest round of talks was held last month in Oslo, Norway, and the two sides agreed to meet again in late August.
