15 Dec, 2009, Philippines

Around nine communist rebels have been killed in the raid by the Philippine army in the southern Mindanao Island. The Troops were backed by helicopter gun ships that attacked a rebel camp near the Valencia town. One soldier has been killed.

The Rifles and other weapons have been recovered in the raid on the New People’s Army guerrilla camp. The five teams of soldiers converged on the site after a tip-off.

They could found around 60 rebels hiding there. The Three soldiers were wounded in the fighting. It has been the heaviest loss for the rebels in Bukidnon province since March this year.

The Peace negotiations between the rebels and the government had collapsed in 2004 and more recent efforts were made to revive them have also fallen apart.

The NPA is armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines that has waged a 40-year battle to seize the power.

The conflict had reached its peak in the 1980s, the time when the ranks of the Maoist rebels were swelled to more than 25,000. The Rebel numbers are now thought to be about 5,000. The Philippine army is under orders now from the President, Gloria Arroyo to defeat the Maoists by the next year. But Mindanao is also the focus of fighting with the Muslim insurgents as well as the powerful clans.