Abu Sayyaf leader Hapilon hurt again in Lanao del Sur clash —military

Abu Sayyaf group leader Isnilon Hapilon had been wounded in an encounter with troops in Poona Babayao, Lanao del Sur on Tuesday, a military official claimed.

Col. Nixon Fortes, commander of the Philippine Army's 103rd Brigade, said that Hapilon was wounded in the right leg during an encounter with members of the 51st Infantry Battalion and 15th Division Reconnaisance Company in a forested village in Poona Babayao.

The military had previously claimed that Hapilon was "seriously hurt" during an airstrike in Butig town, a known lair of the Maute group, in January.

Fortes said three of Hapilon's Tausug guards were killed in the encounter  around 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

He said Hapilon's group had joined the Maute local terrorists in the province.

Seized following the encounter were three M-14 rifles, an M-16 rifle with an attached M203 grenade launcher, a Garand rifle, a propelled grenade and improvised explosive devices.

The military official said the information on Hapilon's condition came from residents and had been validated by the military's intelligence operatives.

Fortes, meanwhile, said that a certain Najib Pondoc, a bomb-maker, is in Poona Babayao and had joined Hapilon's group.

He said Hapilon with the help of the Maute group is trying to establish a "wilayat" or a provincial ISIS territory in Lanao del Sur.

"Hindi lang ito sa Lanao del Sur kung hindi sa buong bansa and this we don't want to happen," he said. —ALG, GMA News