[Al Jazeera] The Philippine government has announced it would suspend offensives against communist fighters, allowing troops to focus on quelling a bloody siege by ISIS-linked fighters in the country's south.Silvestre Bello III, chief government negotiator, said on Sunday that the government move is in response to a similar plan by the communist New People's Army rebels.
He did not specify when such a suspension of government offensives would take effect and under what terms.
In the last year the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has been engaged in an on-and-off truce with the communist rebels.
Despite the latest peace overtures, Philippine troops killed five communist fighters in separate festivities in the south while the rebels stormed a cop shoppe in a central Philippine island of Leyte and seized a dozen assault rifles and pistols over the weekend, officials said.
Three communist fighters were killed in Davao Oriental province and two others died in Compostela Valley in separate festivities with army troops on Saturday, military officials said.
While in Leyte, about 50 communist rebels stormed a cop shoppe and seized 12 rifles and pistols, and other equipment, according to the police.
The rebels grabbed credit for the attack, saying in a statement that they waged the assault to punish coppers, whom they accused of being involved in extortion, gambling and distribution of illegal drugs.