A NEW People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla was killed on Tuesday in a firefight with soldiers in Trento, Agusan del Sur.

The soldiers also recovered two high- powered firearms—an M-16 rifle and an M-1 Garand rile—and a homemade bomb during the clash.

Lt. Col. Danilo Benavides, commander of the Army’s 75th Infantry Battalion, said his men were on patrol when they encountered around 20 rebels who are members of the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 20.

He said the presence of the guerrillas, who were allegedly on an extortion mission in the area, was reported by the residents.

Benavides said forensic experts were still determining the identity of the dead rebel, whose body was recovered by the soldiers.

During the firefight, two soldiers were slightly wounded.

Col. Romeo Gan, commander of the 401st Infantry Brigade, lauded the support of the civilians in tipping the presence of the guerrillas.

“We are very happy and thankful for the cooperation of our community in helping us to stop these criminals to from committing terroristic activities,” he said.