ZAMBOANGA CITY: Communist rebels on Thursday boasted of their victory against government forces in Mindanao, owning up to a spate of attacks on soldiers in the rich, but restive region.

Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesman for the New People’s Army (NPA), said the attacks targeted at least three Army battalions – 28th, 60th and 72nd – in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental provinces where five soldiers were killed recently.