MANILA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Severn soldiers have been injured in a landmine explosion that hit the southern Philippines during a clash on Tuesday afternoon, the military said on Wednesday.
The Philippine military blamed the leftist rebels for laying the landmines that went off 3:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday in the municipality of Buenavista in Agusan del Norte of the southern Philippines.
"The soldiers sustained shrapnel wound," the Philippine military said in a statement.
Prior to the landmine explosion, the military said troops clashed with the New People's Army (NPA) rebels, resulting in the killing of a 23-year-old farmer suspected of being a member of the leftist rebel armed group.
The military said troops recovered M16 assault rifles and ammunition from the encounter site.
The Philippine military said the NPA has an estimated 4,000 members. The rebels have been fighting the government since 1969.
The government has been trying to forge peace with the leftist rebels since 1986 but the on-off talks have faltered many times in the past.
