MANILA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government troops clashed early Monday with leftist guerrillas in Masbate province south of Manila, leaving three rebels dead, a military spokesman said.
Dennis Cana, the spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Southern Luzon Command, said the fighting erupted around 5:35 a.m. local time after troops encountered an undetermined number of New People's Army (NPA) rebels in a village in Masbate province, an island province south of Manila.
No government soldiers were killed or wounded in the firefight that lasted about 15 minutes, Cana said, adding that the rest of the NPA rebels fled.
Cana added the troops recovered a rifle, two shotguns, an anti-personnel mine, and several documents from the clash site.
Jonathan Zata, the chief of AFP public affairs office, said on Sunday that since January this year the country's security forces killed a total of 169 NPA fighters and arrested 218.
The NPA rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since 1969. On and off talks to end the decades-old insurgency that have killed thousands stalled again last year. Enditem
