Two government soldiers were killed in an ambush by communist rebels while on their way back to base in an eastern Philippine town, the military said Tuesday. ( dpa )
Army private first class Alvin Nario and John Dave Tanay were aboard a motorcycle when they were attacked in Ragay town in Camarines Sur province, 300 kilometres south-east of Manila, on Monday afternoon.
Major General Jeoffrey Sodusta, an army infantry division commander, said the soldiers were on their way back to their patrol base in nearby Lupi town.
"The soldiers had just conducted community work and were unarmed at the time," he said. "The communist rebels are cowards, they did not give our soldiers a fighting chance."
Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.