12 killed in communist ambush in northern Luzon

Manila: Eleven soldiers and a civilian were killed during an ambush staged by communist rebels in northern Luzon on Wednesday, sources said.

An Army captain, another high ranking Army officer, and a woman band player were among the dead when members of the New People's Army ambushed a three-vehicle convoy of the military in Buyho, Gumhang village, Tinoc province at eight Wednesday morning, ' Chief Supt. Benjamin Magalong, Cordillera police director said in a report that reached Manila.

Three people, including two government soldiers and another civilian were wounded in the clash that lasted for three hours, Magalong said, adding that NPA members slipped away when a military reinforcement came to the rescue of the government soldiers.

The soldiers were on their way to the headquarters after attending a turn-over ceremony held overnight in a nearby village. The identities of the slain civilian and the 11 soldiers who belonged to the 86th Infantry Batallion were not released.

The NPA is the military arm of the 45-year old Communist Party of the Philippines which has waged armed struggle in far-flung provinces to establish a Maoist type of government.

The communists involved in the attack on Wednesday came from nearby Nueva Vizcaya province, said local leaders who expressed fear the incident could stop tourists from coming to the north where the swathe of two thousand year old rice terraces are based.

Six NPA members were allegedly killed when 30 NPA members clashed with government soldiers in nearby Natonin town last Saturday,

Earlier, communist rebels and government security forces exchanged accusations about harassment of motorists on the province's major road artery.

Kalinga province has been communist-free since 2011, local leaders insisted, adding that residents of towns in northern Luzon's Mt. Province have withdrawn support for the NPA.

The Philippine government has been holding on and off peace talks with the communist National Democratic Front (NDF) since 1992. President Benigno Aquino told negotiators to forge a peace settlement with the NDF in 2012. But the NDF demanded for the release of political prisoners as a condition for the continuation of the talks.

The NPA's current strength is estimated at 4,000 armed fighters nationwide. It has been resorting to arms-snatching since the Philippine government established diplomatic ties with China in 1975. It has been blamed for imposing revolutionary taxes on companies based in the provinces.

The CPP-NPA boasted of 26,000 armed components in the 70s.