Nine Rebels Dead in Cuba Skirmish

Two Soldiers Are Also Killed as Disorders Continue Throughout Island

By R. Hart Phillips

Special to the New York Times

HAVANA, Feb. 16—Nine rebels were killed in an encounter with Government troops at La Carmen, near Niquero, on the south coast of Oriente Province, according to an army announcement. Two soldiers were killed and two wounded.

Reports during the last few days from Niquero and Manzanillo have told of frequent rebel attacks on troops and commercial concerns, in which the rebels were said to have carried off supplies.

Reports reach Havana daily on the finding of bodies of both rebels and loyalists on roads and along the south coast of Oriente Province. They are casualties of the undercover war between the troops and rebel elements.

In Sancti Spiritus, in Las Villas Province, a policeman, Evelio Mesa Bonchea, was shot and killed last night by unidentified persons.

Sabotage is widespread in this province. Electric power was cut off for fifteen minutes last night when a chain was thrown over a 60,000-volt line near Cruces. During the blackout four bombs exploded in Cruces, injuring a woman and a girl. Bombs also exploded in Ranchuelo during the blackout, causing considerable damage.

Sabotage of the railways has reached the point where schedules of trains leaving Camaguey for Oriente Province are being varied daily. The rebels are reported to have advised the head of the railway shops in Camaguey that all trains would be sabotaged whether they carried freight or passengers.

An attempt was made last night to set afire tanks of the Texas Oil Company at Regla, across the bay from Havana. Guards fired at two intruders who had cut through a wire fence and were attempting to enter the tank farm.

Three bombs exploded in the town of Regla, causing some damage but no injuries. A group entered the garage of the bus company in Regla and set two vehicles afire.

A report from Pinar del Rio said the town of Guane and five surrounding villages had been blacked out for twenty-four hours as a result of sabotaged power lines.

In Santiago de Cuba, students declared a strike. A student manifesto said that it was impossible to study in the present disturbed atmosphere and that the students had no obligations to attend classes.