The Army of killed nine communist rebels during an operation on the day of on the southern island of despite the recent rapprochements between the government and the guerrilla to resume peace talks.

The offensive took place on Monday morning near the city of malaybalay after the military received reports about the presence of communist rebels in the region, the Army noted yesterday on social networks.

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The Armed Forces are trying to identify those killed, while ensuring that the operation continues and asking the communist troops to lay down their weapons.

The Army attack occurred during the first of the two days of ceasefire unilaterally announced by the New People’s Army (NEP), armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippinesalthough the government rejected the truce.

The Filipino General José María Body told the Inquirer newspaper that the killed rebels were attending a meeting of the group on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the Communist Partywhich is celebrated this Tuesday.

For this reason, the authorities believe that among the deceased – six men and three women – some high-ranking communist rebels could be found.

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At the end of November, the Philippine government and the NPA announced an agreement to restart peace negotiations, broken in 2017, with the aim of ending more than five decades of armed conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Since 1969, the confrontation between Philippine Army and the NEP It has caused the death of between 30,000 -according to the Army- and 45,000 -according to several NGOs- people in this conflict, the longest running communist rebellion in the world.

The NEP, born to combat the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos -father of the current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.-, has about 1,800 regular troops, according to the latest estimate of the Philippine Army, although it reached 26,000 in the 1980s.

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