Rebel killed, 2 soldiers wounded in south Philippine clash

A low-ranking leftist rebel was killed and two government soldiers were wounded in a clash in southern Philippines on Friday, the Philippine military said on Saturday. Captain Ernest Carolina, spokesperson for the Philippine Army's 10th Infantry Division, said the fighting between government troops and armed members of the leftist rebel group of New People' s Army (NPA) erupted on Friday noon at New Sibonga village, Nabunturan, a town in Southern Philippine province of Compostela Valley. According to Carolina, two soldiers from the army's 60th Infantry Battalion and Eleazar Romero, a platoon leader of NPA's Front 33, got wounded during the clash. However, Romero died from multiple gunshot wounds while the wounded were transported to get treatment. "Because of unfavorable weather, evacuation by helicopter was impossible so the troops had to evacuate him and the two wounded soldiers by foot. The trek back to the ambulance took hours and this may have taken a toll on him. The NPA leader was dead upon arrival at the Camp Panacan regional military hospital (in Davao City)," Carolina told Xinhua by text message, adding that first aid was administered to the three wounded. Carolina said the deceased rebel's body would be turned over to local authorities for proper burial, while pursuit operations were conducted against the remaining leftist guerrillas who fled after the encounter. The 4,000-strong NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting a leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces since 1969.