ZAMBOANGA CITY: A senior communist rebel leader and his wife were killed in a firefight with government troops in Agusan del Sur province in southern Philippines, officials announced Tuesday.

Officials said the fighting broke out in the village of Santa Maria in Trento town that killed Danny Huit, the committee secretary of the New People’s Army Guerrilla Front North. His wife, Naneth Catalino, also a member of the separatist rebel group, died while fighting alongside Huit.