Three soldiers die in rebel clash near Masbate

MANILA (AFP) - Three soldiers were killed and three wounded in a weekend clash with communist guerrillas in the central Philippines, the military said Monday.

Troops fought a four-hour gun battle with about 40 members of the New People's Army (NPA) near the town of Baleno in Masbate province Sunday.

The same group of rebels on Saturday bombed and torched a mobile phone tower apparently after the firm refused to pay extortion money.

The soldiers were initially outnumber
 ed but managed to hold off the advancing rebels. The first volley of gunfire wounded three soldiers, while three others were injured as reinforcement arrived.

Three of the six later died from their wounds, army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rhoderick Parayno told AFP.

The NPA rebels later retreated, leaving behind explosives and personal belongings, he said.

"We are still in pursuit of the rebels," Parayno said.

The NPA is the armed unit of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969 in what is one of Asia's longest running communist insurgencies.