ZAMBOANGA CITY – An army soldier was killed in a clash with gunmen in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Norte, security officials said on Sunday.

Captain Clint Antipala, a spokesman for the 1^st Infantry Division, said policemen, backed by soldiers, were serving arrest warrants on a criminal gang leader, Basiran Ahil Mudja, in Sibuco town when the fighting erupted over the weekend.