BAGUIO CITY (AFP) - The exiled founder of the Philippines' communist insurgent movement has ordered his guerrillas to "inflict severe casualties" on US troops participating in joint exercises in this country, in an official publication obtained here Saturday.
The order came in the latest issue of the communists' Ang Bayan publication and was issued by insurgent chief "Armando Liwanag," widely considered to be a pen name for Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison.
The publication, copies of which were obtained in this northern city, told communist guerrillas that "we must be ready to use the social and physical terrain of the Philippines to inflict severe casualties on the invading US forces and to take punitive action against US economic and related interests".
The communists' guerrilla arm, the New People's Army (NPA), "must deliver lethal blows against the US imperialists and the puppet military and police forces, whatever extent that the US intervenes or aggresses against the people".
It added: "The way for the NPA to strengthen itself is to wipe out the enemy forces and seize firearms and other war material from them."
The threats came as the United States prepared to increase the number of American soldiers taking part in joint exercises in this country.