Manila  - A police officer was killed Friday when communist rebels attacked a town police station in the southern Philippines, a police report said.

The report said about 50 heavily armed communist rebels swooped down on the police station in Carmen town in Agusan del Norte province, 795 kilometres south of Manila.

The rebels outnumbered the police officers in the station and shot one of the police officers in the head.

The guerrillas destroyed the police station's radio equipment and carted away three pistols before escaping to the jungle.

More troops have been dispatched to the area to pursue the guerrillas.

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