CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines -- Philippine soldiers captured two teenage girls in a clash with communist guerrillas, the military said Wednesday accusing the rebels of recruiting minors.

The girls, aged 16 and 17, were captured Monday after troops attacked a New People's Army (NPA) camp near the town of Habonga on Mindanao island, Major Johnny Macnas told AFP.

The military earlier announced that five NPA guerrillas were killed in the attack.

The two girls, both natives of the southern Philippines, were left behind as the rest of the NPA band fled from the military assault.

"Their capture serves as full proof the communists are indeed using minors on war frontlines in gross violations of the Geneva convention and United Nations laws on war," said Macnas.

The two girls are undergoing psychological rehabilitation in an army base in this southern city, he said.

Officials from the 9,000-member NPA have previously admitted the organization recruited minors but said they were mostly used as spies and couriers and not as fighters.

The NPA is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which has been waging a 33-year guerrilla campaign across the Southeast Asian asrchipelago.

Washington has included the CPP-NPA on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, which led to the freezing of the rebel group's assets in certain European countries.

President Gloria Arroyo has said prospects of resuming peace negotiations with the rebels remain dim. Arroyo suspended talks with the rebels after the NPA assassinated several legislators last year.