2 leftist rebels killed in S Philippines

Two alleged leftist rebels were killed following an encounter with government troops in southern Philippines early on Friday, the military said on Friday morning. Major Jacob Obligado, commander of the army's 10th civil- military operations battalion said the clash occurred on 3 a.m. at Lebanon village, Montevista town in Mindanao's Compostela Valley province. He said troops from the army's 66th Infantry Battalion were conducting combat patrol at the village's hinterland area when they chanced upon a group of armed men believed to be New People' s Army (NPA) guerrillas. "A firefight ensued which resulted to the death (of two rebels), " Obligado told Xinhua in a text message. The military official said troops also recover an improvised landmine on the scene, and they are now pursuing the fleeing rebels. The 4, 000-strong NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting a 43-year leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces.