ZAMBOANGA CITY: Army soldiers killed a senior leader of the New People's Army (NPA) who was on top of the military's battle list for his notoriety and involvement in a string of crimes in southern Philippines, officials said on Saturday.

Officials said Emmanuel Anub Sr., alias Salem, an executive committee member of the communist North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC) and secretary of both Subregional Committee Westland and Guerilla Front 21, was slain in the village of San Juan in Bayugan City on Thursday, March 30.