( dpa ) - One communist rebel was killed and a soldier wounded Thursday when troops repelled an attack by the guerrillas on an air force outpost in the Philippines, the military said.
An undetermined number of rebels swooped down on the headquarters of the air force's 733rd combat squadron in Nasugbu town in Batangas province, 120 kilometres south of Manila, before dawn.
Major Randolph Cabangbang, a regional military spokesman, said the guerrillas fired at the outpost using M203 grenade rifles and automatic rifles.
He said the soldiers repelled the attack, killing one guerrilla.
One soldier was also wounded during the firefight. He was brought to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.