Three dead, six injured in communist rebel attacks in Philippines

Three government forces were killed and six wounded in separate attacks on Wednesday by suspected communist rebels in the Philippines, police and the military said.

The attacks occurred amid efforts to resume peace talks between government and communist rebel negotiators, which were suspended in May.

But President Rodrigo Duterte stressed that the negotiations would not resume if the hostilities continue, the government said.

In a meeting with government peace negotiators on Tuesday, Duterte said the rebels "need to stop engaging the military ... if they want to continue the peace negotiations," a government statement said.

Two of the victims were soldiers who were shot dead near a market in the town of Roxas, 510 kilometres south-west of Manila, said Captain Cheryl Tindog, a regional military spokeswoman.

The soldiers were unarmed and were buying supplies when they killed, Tindog said.

"We suspect the killing to be a retaliation for the military's seizure of a communist rebel training camp a few weeks ago," she said.

The other attack occurred in the town of Arakan in North Cotabato province, where one government militiaman was killed and six soldiers injured.

The victims were travelling in a convoy when they were ambushed by more than 100 guerrillas who had set up a bogus checkpoint, according to Senior Inspector Argie Celeste, the town's police chief.

The rebels opened fire at the convoy, which included two vehicles carrying soldiers assigned to the presidential security group, Celeste said.

"Communist rebels usually set up fake checkpoints in the area as part of their extortion activities," he added in a radio interview.
"Soldiers and police officers have been dispatched to pursue the guerillas."

In April, government and communist rebel negotiators agreed to an interim ceasefire, but they have not yet finalized the guidelines and rules that would make the truce effective.

Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.