Manila  - Five soldiers were killed when communist rebels exploded a landmine during an ambush in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said Wednesday.

Two soldiers were wounded in the blast Tuesday in the village of Ganayon in Lianga town in Surigao del Sur province, 885 kilometres south of Manila.

Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner, Army spokesman, said the soldiers were on their way back to headquarters when they were ambushed by the communist rebels.

"Government troops also lost five firearms, ammunition, a laptop, cellular phones and personal belongings," he said.

Four of the slain soldiers died on the spot, while one was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, Brawner said.

On Monday, four soldiers were wounded in another landmine blast in Baganga town in Davao Oriental province. Communist rebels were also behind that explosion.

"The Philippine Army strongly condemns the (communist rebels') continued and growing use of landmines in their attacks on government troops," Brawner said in a statement.

He called on the international community "to make appropriate action or sanction" on the rebels' persistent use of landmines despite an international treaty that bans the use of such weapons.

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)