1 officer killed as rebels announce end of unilateral truce in South Philippines

Fighting erupted between government troops and rebels in southern Philippines on Wednesday, leaving a soldier dead, hours after rebel officials announced the cancellation of a self-imposed ceasefire started last August, authorities said.

The fire fight in a village in Manay town, in Mindanao's Davao Oriental province killed a junior officer and wounded another as soldiers were engaging New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas in a running gun battle past 1 p.m, said Captain Rhyan Batchar, a provincial army spokesperson.

Batchar said troops under the army's 67th Infantry Battalion were responding to reports about the presence of armed men at Lambog village when they were fired upon by suspected guerrillas, sparking a firefight.

The incident was the latest escalation of violence between security forces and the leftist NPA, after weeks of incidents that led to Wednesday's lifting of the rebel-imposed ceasefire declared last August, as a confidence-building measure following the resumption of talks with the government aimed at ending one of Asia's longest insurgencies.

source: Xinhua