By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
A fierce firefight erupted Thursday in the southern Philippines leaving two communist rebels dead and five others wounded.
Capt. Albert Caber, spokesperson of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command, told Anadolu Agency that five army soldiers were also wounded in the same gunbattle.
Caber said troops from the army's 69th Infantry Battalion were on a security patrol on the outskirts of Davao City when they were fired upon by guerrillas of the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) around 3:45 p.m. (0845GMT).
He added that the soldiers returned fire triggering a gunbattle.
Caber said that two communist rebels were shot dead, and ammunition for high-powered firearms and backpacks were recovered from the site.
He said the wounded soldiers suffered minor shrapnel wounds, while the other troops continued pursuit operations against the rebels.
Residents in the area said five wounded NPA rebels were carried by companions as they withdrew from the site.
The army spokesperson said there had been four armed encounters between soldiers and communist rebels in the area within the past four days.
Since March 1969, the NPA- the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines - has been waging one of Asia’s longest running insurgencies in the country.
According to the military, fighting has claimed more than 3,000 lives in the past eight years alone.
Eastern Mindanao Command Commander Lt. Gen. Aurelio B. Baladad has ordered military unit commanders in the area to pursue the rebels.
He has encouraged the wounded NPA members to surrender so they can receive medical treatment.
“We just hope that they will return to the folds of the law while they still have the chance. Let us all embrace peace," he said.
