Troops were fighting “remnants” of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebel group on Sunday near the municipality of Toboso on Negros island, the regional military command said.
The exact number of dead rebels was uncertain, with Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala in Manila saying as many as 19 might have been killed.
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The central Philippines military command said in a statement that “at least 10” NPA rebels were killed, including their local leader, Roger Fabillar, in six firefights that all occurred in Toboso on Sunday.
Set up 57 years ago, the NPA is fighting one of the world’s longest-running communist insurgencies. The military estimates the rebel group has fewer than 2,000 armed members left.
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More than 300 residents of Toboso – a village of 5,000-plus people – fled their homes on Sunday as gunfire rang out in the remote sugar cane-farming region, the municipal disaster management office said.