MANILA, Philippines -- A group of 50 communist guerrillas ambushed a government pickup truck on Christmas Eve, killing 14 people and wounding two others, the paramilitary Philippine Constabulary said Saturday.
A report issued by the constabulary said the guerrillas were members of the New People's Army, the military arm of the underground Philippine Communist Party.
The guerrillas struck Thursday morning at Bato, a town in the mountains in Camarines Sur province, about 200 miles southeast of Manila.
The dead included six constables, three militiamen and five civilians, the report said. A man and a woman were hospitalized from wounds suffered in the attack, it said.
Guerrilla casualties were not reported.
Troops seized several Garand and M-16 rifles, empty shells for AK-47 rifles and unexploded land mines following the attack. The rebels fled with the weapons of their victims.
Government troops have been fielded to track down the rebels in an area where intensified communist activities have been reported in recent months
