Manila - Five police officers were killed Monday in an attack by communist rebels in an eastern Philippine province, a regional military commander said. Two police officers were also injured in the ambush in Bulan town in Sorsogon province, 390 kilometres south-east of Manila, according to Lieutenant General Roland Detabali.
Detabali said soldiers dispatched to help the embattled police officers killed one communist rebel.
He said initial investigation showed the guerrillas bombed one police patrol car.
Troops recovered the destroyed patrol car, four unexploded bombs and four M-16 rifles after the guerrillas fled the area.
Sorsogon is part of the eastern Bicol region, which is a stronghold of communist rebels.
The guerrillas have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.
