Manila - Five people were killed in clashes between government troops and communist rebels in the Philippines on Saturday and Sunday, the military has said. Two soldiers and a civilian guide were killed on Sunday in a clash with communist guerrillas in Santa Catalina town in Negros Oriental province, 365 kilometres south of Manila, a military report said.
Another soldier and a pro-government militiaman was also wounded in the pre-dawn pre-dawn gunbattle with about 60 heavily-armed communist guerrillas in the village of Buenavista, the report added.
On Saturday, two communist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in Casiguran town in the eastern province of Aurora, 155 kilometres north-east of Manila, according to Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres, a military spokesman.
Torres said government troops recovered two assault rifles left behind by the fleeing rebels.
He said the army suffered no casualties.
The military hopes to destroy the communist insurgency before the end of the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2010.
Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.
