Two soldiers and a village official were slain by communist insurgents in the southern Philippines Wednesday, the military said, just as the rebels prepared to resume peace talks with the government in Norway.
An Army sergeant, a corporal and village district chairman Juan Bacharo were riding a motorcycle on their way for a meeting with local officials in Monkayo town in Compostela province in Mindanao when they were shot in an ambush by about 10 members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA), a military statement said. All three were killed in the attack, the statement said, adding that troops were pursuing the attackers.
The attack came a week after the government’s chief peace negotiator said peace talks aimed at ending the Philippines’ 40-year Maoist rebellion were set to resume in Norway next month. The NPA, whose membership ballooned to more than 26,000 in the mid-1980s, has dwindled to 5,000 armed members, according to military estimates
