4 dead, 5 wounded as leftist rebels attack Philippine town police station

Pursuit operations have been launched against dozens of leftist rebels who attacked a police station in a southern Philippine town early Monday, military and police officials said. Soldiers and police were after some 50 New People's Army guerrillas who attacked the Matanao town police station in Mindanao's Davao del Sur province around 4:30 a.m., said Captain Ernest Carolina, spokesperson of the army's 10th Infantry Division. The morning attack killed four persons including two policemen and wounded five other people, three cops and two inmates, said Chief Inspector Jed Clamor, Southern Mindanao police regional spokesperson. Security forces caught up with the fleeing rebels at around 5 a. m., triggering a firefight that killed two suspected rebels, Chief Inspector Clamor said. The 4,000-strong NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting a leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces since 1969.