MANILA, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The government troops killed two leftist rebels in a fresh firefight in Occidental Mindoro province in southern Philippines, the military said on Thursday.
Philippine army spokesman Patrick Jay Retumban said the clash erupted around 4:30 a.m. Thursday when troops were conducting a patrol in a village in Occidental Mindoro province.
Retumban said village residents alerted the military about the presence of some 10 soldiers of the New People's Army (NPA) in the village, which prompts a five-minute firefight before the rebels fled, he added.
"The enemy scampered and withdrew toward different directions dragging along their other wounded and dead comrades based on the heavy bloodstains in the encounter site," Retumban said.
He said government troops recovered an M16 assault rifle, rifle grenades, bandoleers, medical paraphernalia and personal belongings from the site of the clash.
Lt. Col. Dennis Gutierrez, commander of the 4th Philippine army Infantry Battalion, said soldiers are pursuing rebels. "All available troops are now conducting hot pursuit operations," he said.
The NPA, one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies, concentrates its attacks in rural areas and small-scale skirmishes with the government military.
