Leftist rebels kill 5 in fresh attack in south Philippines

Five civilian workers of an agro- industrial firm were killed as leftist New People's Army (NPA) rebels raided the company compound in Esperenza town in Agusan del Sur Tuesday morning, the military said. Heavily armed members of New People's Army raided around 9:30 a. m. Sienna Lyn Corporation in the village of Remedios in Esperanza township of Agusan del Sur and killed five of the firm's workers, said Army Major Leo Bongosia, spokesman for the military's 4th Division. Bongosia said the rebels also set on fire five of the company's heavy equipment before they left on board two trucks. "We dispatch soldiers to pursue the attackers," he said. The incident happened a day after the rebels seized five soldiers in the southern city of Davao. The 4,000-strong NPA, an armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting a leftist insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people in 60 Philippine provinces since 1969.