Maoist rebels killed two soldiers in a public market in Compostela Valley and torched a cellular phone tower in Davao Oriental as the latest flare-up in the 40-year-old insurgency showed no sign of abating, officials said yesterday.

New People’s Army guerrillas shot dead the two soldiers in the Compostela Valley town of Nabuturan Monday, snatching the men’s rifles before fleeing on a motorcycle, said Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II, Southern Mindanao police director.

In Banganga, Davao Oriental, some 30 rebels attacked a Globe Telecom cell site and set the generator on fire yesterday, said Maj. Armand Rico, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Eastern Mindanao Command.

The guerrillas have been attacking Globe Telecom sites for its refusal to pay “revolutionary taxes,” military officials have said.

The assaults came as Philippine National Police chief Avelino Razon Jr. ordered all 17 police regional offices to step up security amid the rebels’ recent wave of attacks.

On Monday, the Army said troops backed by helicopter gunships were pursuing NPA rebels who attacked two town halls and two police stations in Surigao del Norte, sparking two days of sporadic battles that have killed at least 14 guerrillas and two policemen on Siargao island, a popular surfing site, and Claver town, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said.

The military has sealed off the Lapinigan island where more than 20 rebels fled after the attacks in Dapa and General Luna towns.

The rebels, blacklisted by the US, European Union and Australia as terrorists, have become more active in recent months, attacking remote military and police outposts and convoys to seize badly needed weapons.

Peace negotiations stalled in 2004 after the rebels accused the government of instigating their inclusion on US and European Union terrorist lists. Norway, which brokered the talks, has been trying to revive the negotiations.

President Arroyo has ordered the military to wipe out the rebels by 2010, when her term ends.

The military says the number of rebels has dropped from 7,000 several years ago to about 5,000 this year because of battle casualties and surrenders. – Edith Regalado, Jaime Laude, Ben Serrano, AP