Two policemen were killed in an encounter with alleged New People's Army (NPA) members in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro on Saturday.

Killed were SPO1 Bonifacio Tacuyo and SPO2 Raymundo Robles, both assigned at 1st Provincial Mobile Force Co., a police report said.

The policemen were conducting pursuit operation on armed men which engaged soldiers in a 15-minute firefight at 6 am, said Capt. Patrick Retumban, spokesman of the 2nd Infantry Division.

At 9:40 am, the policemen encountered the fleeing armed men but during the five-minute encounter, the two cops were killed.

The bodies of the policemen were brought to San Jose District Hospital for post mortem examination, police said.

A third encounter between soldiers with the armed men occurred around 1145 and fighting is going on, said Retumban. DMS