By DPA
Manila : Five soldiers were killed Wednesday in a clash with communist rebels in a remote town in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said.
Colonel Benito De Leon said six soldiers were also wounded in the fighting in Cateel town in Davao Oriental province, 990 km south of Manila.
“We lost five soldiers and six were wounded,” he said. “The report is still sketchy, we are not sure if it was an ambush or an encounter.”
De Leon said the army has not received reports of rebel casualties.
On Tuesday, two policemen and two civilians were killed in an attack by communist rebels in nearby Compostela Valley province.
Attacks by communist rebels occurred despite government claims that the military was succeeding in its fight against the guerrillas.
The rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.