CAMP MELCHOR DELA CRUZ, Gamu, Isabela: Two New People's Army (NPA) rebels were killed in a 30-minute gunfight with the 54th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Mainit, Bontoc, Mountain Province on Tuesday, the military said on Wednesday.

The communist rebels were identified by relatives and soldiers as Ernesto Lucaben Jr. alias Ka Ashley/Lando and Wilfredo Gaayon alias Ka Jaz, both belonging to the NPA's Komiteng Larangang Gerilya-Abra-Mount Province-Ilocos Sur remnants, according to Maj. Jekyll Julian Dulawan, Fifth Infantry Division (5th ID) spokesperson.