Four soldiers killed by rebels in Philippines

MANILA - Four soldiers were killed in an attack by communist rebels in the eastern Philippines, an army spokesman said Monday.

The troops were ambushed Sunday in Presentacion town in Camarines Sur province, 255 km south-east of Manila, Major Harold Cabunoc said.

He said the rebels threw grenades and opened fire at the soldiers as they were negotiating steep terrain, killing four and wounding three.

Cabunoc said the troops were pursuing a group of guerrillas who had earlier killed a soldier in an attack on an army outpost guarding a government road project.

Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.