Rebels kill state militia in Agusan: military

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Suspected leftist rebels gunned down a state militia today in the southern Philippines, the military said.

The victim, Arnel Pantallion, 25, assigned in the military's 23rd Battalion, was attacked by an unknown New People's Army (NPA) guerilla in the village of Sta. Rita in the town of San Luis, Agusan del Sur province, said Lt. Col Medel Aguilar, spokesperson for the military's 10th Division.

Pantallion was heading home when he was shot dead, added Aguilar.

The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has been waging a guerrilla campaign in the countryside for more than four decades. The Philippine military estimates that there are some 4,100 NPA guerrilla fighters scattered in more than 60 provinces throughout the Southeast Asian country.

Formal peace talks between the Philippine government and the leftists bogged down after the United States included the NPA and its parent body as foreign terrorist organizations in 2002.

In the latest development, the Philippine government and CPP- led National Democratic Front (NDF) agreed on Jan. 18 in Norway to resume the formal peace negotiation from Feb. 15 to 21, with the hope of completing it within 18 months. (report from Philstar.com)