2 suspected NPA rebels killed in Mindoro clash

(Updated 4:32 p.m.) Two suspected communist rebels were killed following a clash with government security forces in Occidental Mindoro early Wednesday morning, the commander of the Philippine Army said. In a text message to reporters, Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz said at 9:45 a.m., a platoon of the Army's 80th Infantry Battalion engaged 18 suspected New People's Army rebels at Sitio Lanaban in Barangay Manoot in Rizal town. Apart from the bodies of the slain insurgents, the operating troops also recovered two high-powered firearms. No casualties were reported on the government side, Ortiz said. For his part, Col. Generoso Bolina, spokesman for the Armed Forces' Southern Luzon Command (Solcom), said the rebels were out to attack a police detachment in Barangay Ligaya in Sablayan town in Oriental Mindoro. Just last Monday, eight insurgents were killed in a clash with Army soldiers in Abra. The clashes came even as the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines prepare for the resumption of formal peace talks in Oslo, Norway this month. Negotiations have been suspended since August 2004. — RSJ, GMA News