Soldiers backed by attack helicopters have killed eight communist rebels over the past week in the southern Philippines as part of a stepped-up campaign against the guerrillas, an army commander said Saturday.The military is under orders from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to end the 40-year-old Maoist insurgency - one of Asia's longest - by 2010.
Lt. Col. Milfredo Meligrito, commander of the 57th Infantry Battalion, said soldiers killed seven New People's Army guerrillas Friday in a battle outside Tulunan township in Cotabato province. He said another guerrilla was killed in a clash Monday. He said troops were pursuing a few dozen guerrillas who fled but there were no reports of firefights Saturday.
Meligrito said his troops launched the offensive against the rebels earlier in the week based on information the guerrillas were consolidating and training their forces in the area, about 600 miles (970 kilometers) southeast of Manila. He said troops had discovered two abandoned rebel training camps.
Peace talks with the rebels, brokered by Norway, stalled in 2004 when the rebels accused the Philippine government of instigating their inclusion on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. Rebel ranks have thinned to an estimated 5,200 - down from their peak of more than 25,000 in the mid-1980s - because of battle setbacks, surrenders and factionalism.