Manila - Four communist rebels were killed Thursday in a clash with government troops in a remote eastern Philippine town, a military spokesman said.

Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres said the fighting erupted when patrolling troops encountered heavily armed guerrillas is Tinambac town in Camarines Sur province, 285 kilometres south-east of Manila.

Torres said the soldiers recovered three assault rifles left behind by the fleeing rebels.

The government troops did not suffer any casualty in the fighting, he said.

Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia. (dpa)