A civilian was killed and five soldiers were wounded in a Philippine military offensive against the Al-Qaeda linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, the armed forces said Wednesday.
An undertermined number of Abu Sayyaf militants were also believed killed or wounded after military forces carried out the air and ground offensive against rebel hideouts on the island of Jolo, the military said.
A civilian acting as a guide for the soldiers was slain and five soldiers had been wounded so far since the operation began on the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Jolo island on Tuesday, it said.
Regional deputy operations chief Brigadier General Mohammad Dolorfino said that the operation was meant to flush Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani out of the jungle.
Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah members Umar Patek and Dulmatin, both wanted for the deadly Bali bombings in Indonesia, are believed to be also hiding with Janjalani's group.
Janjalani is thought to have joined with other Abu Sayyaf leaders in Jolo, a hilly, forested island which the Muslim extremists have long used as a base of operations.
The Abu Sayyaf is a small gang of Islamic militants wanted by the US government for a spate of murders, kidnappings and bomb attacks in the Philippines, mostly targeting Christians and foreigners.
The US State Department considers the group a foreign terrorist organization and has offered huge rewards for the capture of its key leaders over the kidnapping deaths of two American citizens seized from a beach resort in 2001.
Intelligence officials have said that the Abu Sayyaf has ties to the Al-Qaeda network of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden as well as the Jemaah Islamiyah.
