Kidapawan City, Philippines  - Communist rebels ambushed an army vehicle in the southern Philippines, wounding two soldiers, a military commander said Wednesday.

The attack occurred on Tuesday in Binoongan village in Arakan town, North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, said Colonel Melfredo Melegrito.

Melegrito said the soldiers were responding to reports that a group of communist rebels had attacked a banana plantation in the village.

"But they were ambushed along the highway, leaving two of our soldiers wounded," he said. "The wounded included an army officer."

The attack came one day before a Christmas ceasefire declared by the rebels took effect Wednesday until December 26, which also marks the Communist Party of the Philippines' 40th founding anniversary.

The rebels also declared a truce from December 31 to January 1.

The government separately declared a suspension of military offensives on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and from December 31 to January 1.

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)