MANILA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Six government soldiers were killed and six others wounded in a clash with leftist insurgents on Tuesday in the central Philippines, a military report said.

The military report said fighting broke out around 2:30 a.m. as troops on patrol encountered an undetermined number of New People's Army (NPA) rebels in a remote mountainous village in Samar province.

The report read that the soldiers sustained shrapnel wounds from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by the rebels.

The report said the rebels may also have suffered an "undetermined" number of casualties.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The CPP and their front organizations have been attempting to negotiate a peace pact with five Philippine presidents before the current leader, President Rodrigo Duterte, but negotiated settlement remains elusive and peace talks have repeatedly stalled.

In 2017, Duterte decided to terminate his administration's peace negotiations with the insurgent group. Last month, the Philippine president said he has no more plan to reopen the talks during his term which ends in 2022.