Five suspects of "an attempted robbery" were killed in the southern Philippines over the weekend, the military said on Monday.
Lieutenant General Alfredo Rosario, the commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said the government forces killed the suspects during a five-minute firefight at a checkpoint Saturday night in Ampatuan, a town in Maguindanao province.
He said the soldiers and members of a paramilitary unit set up the checkpoint after civilians tipped off a robbery of a convenience store allegedly being hatched by armed men, reports Xinhua.
Rosario said the fighting broke out while the paramilitary unit at the checkpoint "encountered an undetermined number of armed men on board a minivan."
Two other suspects escaped and are being sought by the government forces, he said, adding that they also recovered two pistols and ammunition in the van.