MANILA: Sixteen people were killed in the Philippines yesterday when communist rebels clashed with armed tribesmen in one of the deadliest flare-ups of a decades-old insurgency in years, the military said.
New People’s Army guerrillas attacked the home of Calpito Egua in a remote area of the southern island of Mindanao but the tribal leader and his followers fought back, said local military spokesman Major Christian Uy.
“The datu (tribal chief) did not give in to their extortion demands,” he told reporters.
Thirteen guerrillas, two tribesmen and a soldier from a military unit that went to help Egua’s men were killed, Uy added.
Egua, the local leader of the Manobo mountain tribe, and a soldier were also slightly wounded in two hours of fighting, Uy said.
Egua and his tribe run a small-scale gold mining operation, but they had refused to pay money to the rebels.
AFP
