Manila  - Two government militiamen were killed in an attack by communist rebels while buying rice in the southern Philippines, an army commander said Wednesday.

Major General Carlos Holganza said the victims were gunned down Tuesday outside a store near an army outpost in Davao City, 990 kilometres south of Manila.

"The militiamen were unarmed and merely buying food," he said.

"This cowardly and inhuman act of these terrorists shows their total disregard and disrespect for the most basic tenets of international humanitarian law," he added.

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)