One leftist rebel was killed while a civilian was wounded in a clash between the government troops and suspected members of the New People's Army (NPA) in northern Philippines, the military said on Sunday.

Lt. Celeste Frank Sayson, spokesman of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division, said the clash broke out at around 05:30 a.m. Saturday local time in Mamburao town of Mindoro Occidental province when soldiers of the army's 80th Infantry Battalion encountered ten suspected NPA guerrillas.

After the rebels withdrew, the soldiers recovered the body of slain rebel, an M16 rifle, a homemade shotgun, two laptop computers, six mobile phones and a radio, Sayson said.

The injured civilian was taken to a town hospital and is now in a stable condition.

The military said that as of the end of last December, the NPA has more than 5,000 fighters and over 60 guerrillas throughout the country.

Peace talks between the government and the leftist rebels bogged down in 2004 after the United States classified the NPA and its parent Communist Party of the Philippines as foreign terrorist organizations.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2009)