Three communist rebels were killed while one was wounded and captured in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, dpa quoted a military spokesman as saying. One soldier was also wounded in the firefight Saturday in a remote village in Laak town in Compostela Valley province, 945 kilometers south of Manila, Major Randolph Cabangbang said. Cabangbang said the troops were on patrol when they ran into about 20 guerrillas in the village of Lorenzo Sarmiento. The soldiers recovered three weapons and a hand-held radio from the slain rebels, he added. Cabangbang said the wounded rebel was brought to a nearby military camp for treatment and detention. Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.
