Duterte threatens to end talks after attack

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to end peace talks with communist rebels yesterday, hours after suspected guerillas wounded four of his military bodyguards in an ambush.

Aides said Duterte, 72, was not in the convoy when gunmen opened fire on two Presidential Security Group vehicles on a highway on the main southern island of Mindanao, where martial law is in effect.

The government blamed the New People’s Army – the armed wing of the Communist Party – and threatened to shelve peace negotiations unless the guerillas stopped targeting soldiers in the south.

“The president directed the government panel . . . not to resume formal peace talks unless the reds agree to stop attacks on government troops in Mindanao,” the palace said in a statement. — AFP