Three policemen and two communist guerrillas have been killed in a clash in the southern Philippines.
A police patrol came across at least 20 New People's Army rebels Saturday outside the town of Baganga in Davao Oriental province, 1,000 kilometers southeast of Manila.
The encounter triggered a gun battle during which at least five men were killed.
The NPA has been waging a Maoist insurgency in the Philippines for 35 years. The communists suspended peace talks with the government in August, after failing to persuade the United States and Europe to remove the group from terrorist lists and announced last month that their attacks would resume.