One communist rebel was killed during a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines Friday, a regional army spokesman said, according to dpa. The fighting erupted before dawn in the town of Talaingod in Davao del Norte province, 990 kilometres south of Manila, Captain Emmanuel Garcia said. Garcia said three assault rifles left behind by the fleeing rebels were recovered by the troops at the scene. Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.
