At least one Filipino army officer and seven left-wing rebels were killed in fighting which erupted in southern Philippines Sunday, reported the Philippines News Agency.
Government forces and the New People's Army (NPA) rebels were engaged in continuing sporadic gun fight after NPA rebels attacked an army patrol base in Carmen, Surigao del Sur in southern Philippines, said the report.
An earlier report by local radio said two members of NPA were killed in a fighting with paramilitary troops in Surigao del Sur, when some 50 rebels attacked an outpost of a government-backed para-military group.
The newest clash took place two days after four government soldiers were wounded when they were ambushed Friday by NPA rebels in a market in Davao City, southern Philippines.
Col. Jose Vizcarra, 402nd Brigade Commander of the Philippine Army based in Surigao del Sur, claimed undetermined number were wounded in the NPA side, said the report.
"Sporadic gun fight still continues after my men conducted hot pursuit operations against the fleeing terrorists," the report quoted Vizcarra as saying.
An estimated 30 families started to flee their homes when sporadic firefight intensified between government forces and the rebels.
Police confirmed a mass evacuation of the villagers, some of them local tribesmen.
Police and military reinforcements are on their way but the authorities were "worried of huge blocking force of NPA rebels stationed mostly in the bridges on the way to the area", said the report.
The NPA is a 6,000-strong rebel force which has been fighting government forces for nearly 40 years in the countryside.
Source:Xinhua
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