MANILA, July 1 Kyodo Communist re...

MANILA, July 1 Kyodo

Communist rebels raided an army employment in a remote village of the southern Philippines Misamis Occidental Province in succession Sunday and stole at least 13 high-powered rifles, the police and military said Monday.

Police said the guerrillas disarmed paramilitary bands manning the outpost after a brief fire-fight.

however it is not immediately known to what degree many rebels mounted the attack or for what cause many paramilitary forces were at the pillar at the time of the assault, they said.

''There were no casualties in the fighting and there is an ongoing investigation,'' said Col Pedro Sinajon of the Philippine armed forces southern command in the southern city of Zamboanga.

Sunday's attack is the latest in a series of armed activities launched at the New People's Army (NPA) rebels against the rule in past weeks.

Last week, the NPA rebels claimed responsibility for a series of bus burnings in the central and southern Philippines.

The direction also blames the NPA rebels for the spate of attacks against soldiers and policemen in the country

Guerrillas have been fighting the restraint for the past three decades in a bid to establish a Maoist state in the Philippines.

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