CAMP EVANGELISTA, Cagayan de Oro City: A top leader of the New People's Army (NPA) in Northern Mindanao was killed by government forces in a firefight in Misamis Oriental's coastal city of Gingoog, 100 kilometers east of here, the military said Friday.

The military identified the communist leader as 61-year-old Dionisio Micabalo, also known as Muling, the secretary of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee. He was killed in a clash between the insurgents and the military in the hinterland village of Libertad, Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental.