Five communist rebels were killed Saturday in a clash with government troops in a remote northern Philippine town, a military report said.
Five soldiers were also wounded in the fighting that erupted when an undetermined number of guerrillas attacked an army outpost in Sallapadan town in Abra province, 345 kilometres north of Manila.
More troops have been dispatched to the area to pursue the fleeing rebels, reported dpa.
Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s in what is one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.