Hapilon, son wounded
in Sulu clash: Wesmincom

AN Abu Sayyaf leader and his son were reportedly injured in last Wednesday's preemptive attack in Indanan, Sulu that saw Marines and Army soldiers capture the common camp of the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiyah.

Maj. Eugene Batara, spokesman of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said they received a report that Hapilon was wounded in the hand while his son named Tabari was hit in the head and abdomen during the bombardment and ground assault of the camp which housed a bomb-making facility.

Hapilon, one of the remaining senior leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, has a $5 million reward for his neutralization offered by the United States.

"We have intelligence information, someone saw it," said Batara, adding that the report did not say if the elder Hapilon's wound was serious.

Batara said a soldier was also wounded during the operations. He said the military found no enemy bodies at the seized camp during clearing operations despite the earlier claim of Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commanding officer of Joint Task Force Comet which mounted the attack, that the ASG-JI side suffered many casualties.

Sabban in an earlier interview said they began firing artillery rounds at the camp of some 200 ASG and JI terrorists in the wee hours of Wednesday preparatory to the ground assault after getting word that JI leader Omar Patek and top Abu Sayyaf commanders were at the camp planning terrorist attacks.

Batara said they have not yet ascertained if Patek was in the camp during the attack. "We have yet to receive reports that he was indeed there but previous intelligence information indicated that they were there."

Batara also said they have no confirmation of reports that civilians were wounded in the attack.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said at least 335 families were displaced due to the fighting. Quoting reports from the Office of the Civil Defense-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, the NDCC said the displaced families are from Sitio Marang, Barangay Kagay where the actual fighting took place.