Military officials in the Philippines say 14 Communist rebels and two government soldiers have died in a gunbattle in a remote southern village.
The military said Monday that firefight began Saturday when government troops encountered about 100 New People's Army rebels in Compostela Valley province on southern Mindanao island.
In addition to the 16 fighters who were killed, an army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventure Pascual, says three soldiers and scores of rebels were wounded.
The 8,000-strong NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, listed as a terrorist organization both by the Philippines and the United States.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.
