<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Eight communist rebels and a policeman were killed in the Philippines this week during clashes between security forces and a Maoist insurgency group, the army said today.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The latest fighting happened on the central Bohol and Negros islands as government forces continue to battle the long-running insurgency despite hopes of peace talks this year.</div><div><br></div><div>Five rebels were killed when fighting broke out today as army troops and police attempted to arrest the NPA’s leader on Bohol, Domingo Jaspe Compoc, who was among those killed.</div><div><br></div><div>“He (Compoc) is notorious … We have been monitoring his group’s activities since last year,” regional military spokesman lieutenant-colonel Israel Galorio told AFP.</div><div><br></div><div>Compoc had a 2.6 million peso bounty on his head on charges of rebellion and multiple murders, among others.</div><div><br></div><div>A police officer was also shot dead and a second officer was wounded, a Bohol police spokesman told reporters.</div><div><br></div><div>On Wednesday, three other NPA rebels were killed and three soldiers wounded in gunfights on Negros island, the military also reported.</div><div><br></div><div>“Since there is still no directive or order to cease the conduct of focused military operation or joint operation with the (police) … we will still continue our internal security operations,” Galorio said.</div><div><br></div><div>President Ferdinand Marcos’s government and the rebels jointly announced last November that they intend to resume peace talks in 2024, aimed at ending the decades-long insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives.</div><div><br></div><div>But no dates have yet been set for formal negotiations. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>