MANILA (AP) -- Army troops clashed with communist rebels in the southern Philippines in violence that killed two soldiers and left at least eight guerrillas dead or critically wounded, an official said Friday.
The troops stumbled on a big rebel camp in Davao city's mountainous Paquibato district on Thursday, triggering a firefight that lasted more than two hours and also wounded two other soldiers, said Col. Francisco Simbajon, 4th Infantry Division spokesman.
Simbajon said villagers saw the New People's Army rebels dragging eight to 10 bodies as they withdrew from the clash site but were not sure if they were dead or critically wounded.
``We did not recover any body, but soldiers saw bloodstains in the place where the rebels were positioned and along the route of the escape,'' Simbajon said by phone.
He said assorted ammunition, subversive documents and personal belongings of the guerrillas were retrieved from the camp.
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