UPDATE - Philippines troops advancing on Abu Sayyaf positions

UPDATES WITH MILITARY STATEMENT

By Roy Ramos and Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – Fighting raged for the second day Thursday in the southern Philippines as government troops advanced on three villages occupied by Daesh-affiliated militants in Basilan island.

The group has beheaded two Canadian hostages this year after ransoms failed to be paid, and threatens to decapitate a Norwegian captured with them in September.

The army offensive began Wednesday with heavy shelling of Abu Sayyaf positions followed by slow ground movement by troops closing in on the group of wanted militants Puruji Indama and Isnilon Hapilon, one of those present on a convoy to the area told Anadolu Agency.

DxNO station manager Richard Falcatan described Tipo-Tipo town center in a text message as "deserted", as soldiers tried to penetrate three outlying villages raided by the group.

The village chief of Baguindan, one of the villages affected, was quoted by Falcatan as saying that the army's howitzer shelling has destroyed houses, rubber trees and infrastructure projects.

Mass evacuation was reported Thursday morning and classes were suspended in schools.

Falcatan said there had been no report so far of any casualties, while the military has so far stayed silent on the fighting

Meanwhile, helicopter gunships could be heard taking off Thursday from the Edwin Andrews Air Base in nearby Zamboanga City and heading for Basilan, one of the two strongholds of the Abu Sayyaf in the south.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., Western Mindanao Command spokesman, described the battles in Tipo-Tipo’s villages as “sporadic” as the military targeted around 150 militants under Hapilon and Indama -- who both pledged allegiance to Daesh last year.

“It can be intense for how many minutes and it will stop and it will go on again after a few minutes,” he said in a statement.

Hapilon is the acknowledged leader of the Abu Sayyaf faction based in Basilan. A $5 million bounty has been placed on him by the United States government for the kidnapping in 2001 of American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, and fellow American Guillermo Sobero.

Sobero was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf and Martin was killed in crossfire during a rescue operation.

In April, Hapilon and Indama led clashes in Tipo-Tipo that killed 18 soldiers and at least five militants -- including a Moroccan national and a son of Hapilon.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.