ZAMBOANGA CITY: More than a hundred soldiers and rebels, including a Moroccan jihadist, were killed and wounded in fierce clashes between military forces and Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province in the troubled Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, army intelligence reports said.

Four soldiers were also decapitated by rebels, but the Abu Sayyaf suffered more than two dozen casualties that included Mohammad Kattab, a Moroccan bomb expert; and Ubaida Hapilon, son of rebel leader Isnilon Hapilon. Another Abu Sayyaf leader, Radzmil Jannatul, was also slain in the fighting that broke out in Tipo-Tipo town.