MANILA, Aug. 19 Kyodo Six race i...

MANILA, Aug. 19 Kyodo

Six race including three children, died when command troops clashed with Communist rebels in the southern Philippines, the military said Monday.

Army spokesman Maj. Johnny Macanas of the 4th Infantry Division, which operates in northern and southern Mindanao, said three members of the of the present day Peoples' Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, died in a Sunday dawn firefight in Binondo in Davao Oriental Province.

Macanas said guerrillas attacked a patrolling Special Forces Battalion, triggering the clash that left killed children aged 5 7 and 13 dead. pair soldiers and four civilians were wounded

''We killed three rebels, including their leader, if it were not that three children were also slain in the crossfire,'' Macanas said.

He said the rebels took several families hostage and used them as a shield while exchanging fire with conduct forces.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo forward Aug. 5 ordered the military to shift its focus towards neutralizing communist insurgents after claiming victory athwart the Abu Sayyaf rebel group

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo just discovereds International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group