The Philippine military is verifying reports that Abu Sayyaf leader Radulah Sahiron and wanted Jemaah Islamiyah bomber Omah Patek succumbed to their wounds they sustained during a massive military operation on the island province of Sulu in southern Philippines earlier this week, the official Philippine News Agency said on Sunday.

Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commanding general of the Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City some 900 km south of Manila, ordered field units to confirm the reports relayed by civilians that Sahiron and Patek have died of their wounds, said the report.

Earlier reports said that Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and another JI bomber Patek were also wounded when the military launched a simultaneous ground and aerial assault on Abu Sayyaf lair in Patikul, Sulu last Tuesday.

Dulmatin and Patek are both hunted with five million dollars apiece bounty for their capture, dead or alive, offered by the United States.

Both are the prime suspects in the 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia where more than 200 people had been killed.

The military said the two and 30 other JI terrorists have been trying to establish a base in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao.

The Philippine military has deployed eight battalions to pursue the fleeing Abu Sayyaf rebels and JI members.

At least 40 rebels and 11 government soldiers have been killed and 60 combatants from both sides have been wounded since the operation began on Aug. 1.

The United States military is providing intelligence assistance to their Philippine counterpart in the operation.

Source: Xinhua