(UPDATE) 2 soldiers killed, 3 wounded in landmine blasts in Cotabato

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Two government soldiers died, while three others got injured in a series of landmine blasts as they were fighting with the leftist rebels in North Cotabato this morning, the military said.

Captain Ernest Carolina, spokesperson for the Philippine Army's 10th Infantry Division, said that soldiers on the hunt for New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas who last Monday attacked Matanao, a town in southern Philippine province of Davao del Sur province, chanced upon an undetermined number of NPA insurgents at Manobisa village, Magpet town in Mindanao's North Cotabato province, sparking a fierce gun battle around 9:55 a.m..

"Two government troops were killed in action while three others wounded after NPA landmines went off nearby the soldiers during their maneuvers," said Carolina, adding that pursuit operations continued against the insurgents who fled an hour after the fighting.

The military spokesperson said they were still determining whether the insurgents also suffered casualties in the fighting.

Philippine authorities have stepped up their operations in hunting down those responsible for last Monday's coordinated attacks at a police station and an army outpost in Matanao, which left 10 soldiers and police, and two insurgents dead and a dozen others wounded. Nine suspected insurgents have been arrested by now.