Manila, February 07: Two people were killed in an attack by communist rebels and a clash with government troops in the Philippines, the military said Sunday. One militiaman was killed Sunday in Juban town in Sorsogon province, 400 kilometres south-east of Manila, said Major Harold Cabunoc, an army spokesman.
Cabunoc said the victim was on his way home when the guerrillas ambushed him in the village of Guruyan, also wounding his cousin.
On Saturday, one communist rebel was killed in a firefight with soldiers in Lupon town in the southern province of Davao Oriental.
Major Randolph Cabangbang, a regional military spokesman, said troops were deployed to the area after residents complained of the presence of armed men in the area.
In Rizal province, just east of Manila, troops arrested 43 people suspected to be communist rebels attending an alleged bomb-making seminar in a house in Morong town on Saturday.
Lieutenant Celeste Frank Sayson said assorted explosive materials, hand grenades, improvised landmines and handguns were seized from the group of 17 men and 26 women.
Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies.
–Agencies