Rebel attack kills 12 in Philippines

An attack by suspected communist rebels in the northern Philippines on Wednesday killed ten soldiers and two civilians, police said. The soldiers were on their way back to camp when they were ambushed by the guerrillas in the village of Pinaplayan in Tinoc town, Ifugao province, 255 kilometres north of the capital Manila. Senior Superintendent Lawrence Mombael, the provincial police commander, said three soldiers were also wounded in the attack. The two slain civilians were caught in the crossfire, said Chief Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, a regional police commander. Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.