NPAs raid banana plantation in Surigao del Sur

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) – Leftist rebels destroyed a banana plantation in the southern Philippines Friday afternoon, local officials said.

New People’s Army (NPA) rebels raided the plantation of Dole Food Company in Anahaw village, Tago town, Surigao del Sur province and destroyed some 22,000 fully grown banana plants worth nearly 250,000 U.S. dollars, said village official Pedro Olvis, adding the raiders did not hurt any of the plantation personnel and they left the area after sensing soldiers were about to arrive.

The military launched a pursuit operation against the rebels in the mountains of Tago.

The 4,000-strong NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been waging a guerrilla campaign in the countryside for four decades.

Peace talks between the government and the leftist rebels bogged down after the United States regarded the NPA and its parent group as foreign terrorist organizations in 2002.