ONE government trooper was killed and two others were wounded in an ambush staged by communist rebels in Leyte province on Friday, military reports said on Saturday.

Initial reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo, the military headquarters in Manila, said that the ambush took place along the boundaries of Albuera and Burauen towns in that province.

The reports said that elements of the 78th Infantry Battalion were on their way back to base when they were fired upon by still undetermined number of New People’s Army rebels.

The soldiers were in a truck and had just come from a community ‘outreach’ program when they were ambushed, reports said.

The name of the soldier killed in the ambush was withheld pending notification of his kin as fresh troops were dispatched in the area to conduct pursuit operations against the rebel group.

The ambush reportedly took place a few days after army officials declared Leyte as free from communist insurgency.